Changes
by hoshiko-on-the-run
Summary: Sequel to Can't We All Just Get Along. A new tournement has come and the team flies to Australia for a shot at the next World Championships. But Boris has shown up along with the Demolition Boys and are bringing their own bag of tricks. What will happen t
1. Getting Caught Up

Heather: Look who's back!!!

Max: The ice cream truck?  


Kenny: Thomas Edison?

Tyson: (scared) The evil samurais from my dreams?

Heather: No, no , and *sighs* NO YOU RETARD!

Tyson: Then who?

Heather: Me, you idiot! I'm back.

All: NOOOOOO!!!

Heather: Ya'll act like ya'll don't like me or something. Well, a promise is a promise. I finally started the sequel. Hopefully this will make people happy at me even though it took me a while. So here it is ^_^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Changes

Chapter 1 

Getting Caught Up

Rachel was sitting in front of her house. It was hard for her to believe that the Caribbean Tournament had been over for two months. Joel went straight back to America and she hadn't heard from him since. The Bladebreakers had kept in touch but Rachel seemed to be wanting to spend less and less time with her boyfriend Ray.

"I wish Ray wouldn't be so overprotective. I can't even look at a guy without him freaking out" she said to herself.

"AHHHH!!!!"

"Tyson" Rachel sighed.

Ever since they got back, their grandfather had put them both through insane training sessions. Just then, a blur of blue hair shot past her, shoving her to the side.

"Tyson!" she yelled.

"Sorry sis. But grandpa went nuts! Gotta run!" he shouted as he jumped off the porch.

"Oh crap!" she yelled. "Does that mean he's following you?"

"Yep! See ya!"

"Aw man" she yelled as she started to run away from their house. "I swear, I never get a break!"

Next thing she knew, Rachel was on the ground. 

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking."

"It's alright" said a voice while a hand went to help her up.

"KAI!" she shouted as she jumped up to give him a hug.

"It's been a while since I've seen you without the psycho tiger" Kai said with a grin.

"Yeah, I know. I figured I needed some time by myself so I told him I was sick."

"And he didn't come running?"

"I told him it was contagious" she said with a smirk. "So...how have things been with you?"

"Kinda lonely."

"I thought you always liked being alone" Rachel asked, clearly confused.

"I like hanging out with you. But like I said. I haven't seen you without Ray and I doubt he wants me to be around you."  
  
"Well, at least ya'll have stopped fighting" Rachel said.

"I just saw what it was doing to you, so I've just tried to avoid him" Kai said, placing a hand on her cheek.

"It seems that your the only one that really cares about me."  
  
"If he doesn't care for you then why are you still with him?"  
  
"It's not that he doesn't care, cause I really think he loves me, but he's just too paranoid."

"Well..." Kai started.

"I know 'I told you so' " Rachel said sarcastically.

"I only tried to warn you. It's not my fault you don't listen" he said while messing up her hair.

"Hey, watch the hair. I better go though. Grandpa's probably caught Tyson and has him screaming like a little girl. Bye!" she said running back towards her house.

"Later" Kai shouted to her. 'This will make my plan easier to go along' he thought to himself. 'Ray won't even see it coming.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Heather: So there was the first chapter.

Tyson: Why does the torture have to begin so soon?!

Ray: Your the only one she tortures, Tyson.

Kai: You'd think he'


	2. Leaving Town

Heather: Hi peoples. So where is everybody hiding?  
  
Ray: What do ya mean?

Heather: I didn't get as many reviews as I was hoping.

Tyson: (sarcastically) Awwww... isn't that sad?

Heather: Shut up! But I will continue for the loyal few. So here ya go.

Chapter 2

Leaving Town

"Hey babe."

"Hi Ray" Rachel said with a slight smile, while he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"So are you feeling better than yesterday?" he asked.

"I was until grandpa woke me up at 4:00 in the morning" she replied groggily.

"He's STILL on his training fit?"

"Unfortunately."

"You want something to drink?" Kenny asked, walking into the room.

Ray had been staying with Kenny since they had finished the Caribbean Tournament. Mr. Dickenson wanted him to stay in Japan until the next tournament popped.

"That's alright. Just keep Tyson away from me. If he would learn to shut his mouth every now and then I wouldn't be going through boot camp" Rachel said slumping down in her chair in the kitchen.

"I don't think that will be possible" Ray stated.

"What? The part about staying away from him or the part about him closing his mouth" Dizzi asked.

"Both actually" Ray started. "But he is your brother, Rach. How long can you really stay away from him?"  


"Not very" Kenny said.

"What do you mean" Rachel asked curiously.

"Well, your grandpa called and said he needed to talk to you guys. It sounded important" Kenny replied.

"Alright. Well, I'll talk to you guys online I guess."  


"Let me walk you back" Ray said getting up with her.

"The doctor said my leg is fine now. You don't have to worry about me so much."

"I just want to make sure you get back alright."

"Come on then. Bye Kenny, bye Dizzi" she said while waving.

later

Rachel and Tyson were sitting down on the couch in their living room. Their grandpa still hadn't come into the house yet.

"How come we have to rush back for a so-called family meeting when he's not gonna show up?" Tyson whined.

"I don't know. But if I get more training because of you" Rachel started.

"You can't do anything to your cute little brother" he smirked.

"Wanna bet?" Rachel grabbed him around the neck and pushed him face first on the couch before sitting on his back.

"I can't breathe, Rach" Tyson screamed.

"Guess you shouldn't threaten somebody that can kick you ass, huh" she said standing up.

"Chill out, dudes" their grandfather said walking into the room.

"So what is this meeting all about, grandpa?" Rachel asked, shoving Tyson so she could sit back down.

"Turns out your pops hurt himself in Egypt."

"Is he gonna be alright?" Tyson asked.

"Don't worry, little dude. He'll be out for a month, but he'll live."

"If he's ok, what's so important?" Rachel asked.

"I gotta head over there until the quacks fix him up."  


"So we get to stay by ourselves for a month? That's so awesome!" Tyson said excitedly.

"Don't think so little man. You two have to check out if you can chill with some homies for a while. By the way, I'm heading out tomorrow" their grandpa said leaving the room.

"Yeah, thanks for the advanced notice" Rachel said annoyed.

"I call Maxie's" Tyson shouted. "Guess you better get talkin to people."  


"Thanks a lot."

"I do what I can. So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"Get online. You mind?" she said, stopping so he would quit following her.

She signed on and before she could check her email, she got an instant message.

Driger_rox says:

so what was wrong

Bladerchic6 says:

my dad got hurt in egypt

Driger_rox says:

is he alright

Balderchic6 says:

yeah but grandpa has to stay there 4 a month

Driger_rox says:

r u goin 2

Bladerchic6 says:

no but i have 2 find a place 2 stay

Driger_rox says:

any ideas

Bladerchic6 says:

well ty called max and your @ kenny's so i dunno

Driger_rox says:

tell me when u figure it out ok. l8r i luv u

Bladerchic6 says:

luv u 2. cya

Rachel looked down her buddy list. She didn't think it would be this hard to find someone to stay with. Then again, it was for a month. Suddenly she came across the person she needed.

Bladerchic6 says:

would it b ok if i stay w/ u 4 a month

mybladekicksass says:

what

Bladerchic6 says:

my dad got hurt and grandpa has to leave 4 a month. so can i stay w/ u

mybladekicksass says:

what's in it 4 me

Bladerchic6 says:

u were the 1 that said u dont see me anymore

mybladekicksass says:

true

Bladerchic6 says:

so can i

mybladekicksass says:

i dont know if i have enough room 4 u

Bladerchic6 says:

your full of shit

mybladekicksass says:

u really think i would leave u out on the street

Bladerchic6 says:

maybe

mybladekicksass says:

now who's full of shit

Bladerchic6 says:

oh hush

mybladekicksass says:

what about your annoying brother

Bladerchic6 says:

stayin w/ max

mybladekicksass says:

so when will ya be over

Bladerchic6 says:

tomorrow hehehe

mybladekicksass says:

thanks for the notice. i'll get one of the butlers set u up a room but i g/g. cya tomorrow

Bladerchic6 says:

cya tomorrow kai

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heather:So you guys have to tell me what ya think. I'm hopin for at least one really good review to keep me goin. and trust me. You want to at least read the next chapter cuz it's really interesting and gives away the main plot of the story. Well before I give away too much go ahead and review. until next time cya ^_^


	3. Moving In

Heather: Hi guys. Sorry it took me so long to update. I don't have much free time anymore. But I'll try to update this and Surviving Beyblade as often as I can.

Kai: You're so lazy.

Heather: I AM NOT! At least I updated. Give me some credit.

Kai: Why should I?

Heather: arg... Well here's the next chapter. Enjoy ^_^ (runs after kai)

Chapter 3

Moving In

"Who?!" Ray screamed in the phone.

"I sa-id I'm staying with Kai 'till grandpa gets back" Rachel replied.

"How can you be staying with him?" Ray asked, sounding upset.

"It's easy. He's got a big house and he's my friend. I asked and he said ok. Calm down."

"How can I calm down when you're staying with HIM?"

"God, Ray. He's my friend and I thought yours, too. You act like you don't trust me or something."

"I do trust you, Rachel" Ray said.

"Then what's the big deal?" Rachel asked annoyed.

"Nothing. Sorry. I'm just..."

"Paranoid, overprotective, which one is it?" she said.

"Ok, ok. I said I'm sorry. Geez, what else can I do?" Ray asked.

"Talk to Kai while I get my bags."  


"What?! Wait, Rachel..." Ray started.

"Hello?"

"So is this some kind of idea of yours to take Rachel from me?" Ray spat into the phone.

"Actually no. You seem to be doing a good job of that yourself" Kai replied smugly.

"I swear to god if you touch her..." he started.

"You'll what? Go ahead. Tell me, Ray. What exactly will you do to me?"

Rachel walked back into the room and stood beside Kai. "My luggage's in the car." She looked at Kai and realized what was going on. "Is he threatening you?" she asked angrily. Kai simply nodded his head as she snatched the phone from him. "Ray Kon! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Rachel! I was..."  
  
"No! I'm a big girl and can make my own decisions. If you can't trust me and Kai, that's your problem. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make sure Tyson gets to Max's house. I'll talk to you later. Bye." she said as she slammed the phone down. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Sorry about that, Kai."

"Hey, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it." he said, sitting down on the couch, putting his arms along the back.

"Yeah" she said, sitting down beside him, "but that still doesn't mean you had to put up with that."  


"Is your brother coming or not?" Kai asked, leaning his head back.

"I swear....Tyson! Are you coming or are you gonna walk to Max's?"  


Suddenly a big suitcase was thrown in the middle of the floor. Tyson walked in and fell on his luggage.

"Your such a drama queen" Rachel said.

Kai stood up from the couch. "Are you ready yet" he said, kicking Tyson. "I have better things to do than watch you lay around."  
  
The three got in the limo and dropped off Tyson at Max's. Rachel rolled down her window and yelled at her brother. "Don't bother his parents, Ty. I doubt Kai will let you stay over."

"Why would I want to stay at the sourpuss' house? Bye, Rach" he yelled back as the limo pulled out of the driveway.

Tyson started to walk up the driveway. He saw a girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail with loose hairs walk up to meet him. She was wearing a navy blue t-shirt and black pants with blue stripes on the side. "Hey, Tyson." she said.

"Hey, Raven. Whatcha up to?" Tyson asked walking beside her now.

The girl's name was Raven Vanson. She was 13 years old. Max's parents adopted her when she was 7 after they found her wondering around on the streets.

"Nothin much. So your gonna stay with us, huh?" she asked going inside the house.

"Yep. Grandpa had to go out of town for a month. So where's Max at?" he asked following her.

"Oh. He's in his room on the phone with Haley. He told me that he met her at the tournament."

"Yeah, she was on a team called the Tri-Elements" Tyson replied.

"Well, they've been talking all the time. I think their going out now or something. But if you actually manage to pry him away, tell him dad said dinners almost ready." Raven turned around and walked into the kitchen to help with setting the table. 

"I definitely came at the right time" Tyson said walking upstairs to Max's room. He opened the door and saw Max on his bed still on the phone.

"Oh hey, Tyson. Huh? Sorry, Haley. I gotta go though. I'll talk to ya later ok? Bye" he said hanging up the phone.

"So is that your giiirrrlllfriend?" Tyson taunted.

"Hehehe, well..." Max said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I never knew your were such a player."

"I am not" Max said.

"Well, I would love to bug you more about the subject but Raven said dinner's ready." Tyson said shoving Max out of his room. 

"OK, I get it, Ty." he said moving out of Tyson's path. " Oh yeah. I gotta ask you something."  


":Sure. What is it buddy?"

"Well Haley said that her and the rest of the Tri-Elements are throwing a party this weekend. They wanted to see if all the Bladebreakers would come so it would be like a 'Finals Reunion'."  


"That sounds awesome!" Tyson said.

"I know. So could you call Rachel later. I already told Kenny, so him and Ray are all for it." Max replied.

"Sure. I'll call her.......AFTER we eat!"

~*Kai's Mansion*~

"Here is your room, miss." One of the butler's said putting her in bags in a huge room. It had a king-size bed, it's own bathroom, and a balcony with glass doors since it was on the second floor.

"Oh, god. I don't think I'll want to leave when grandpa get's back." Rachel said out loud to herself.

"Would that be a problem?"  


"Ahhh! Kai, why do you always have to scare the shit out of me?" she asked as he walked in the room from leaning on the door way with his arms crossed.

"It's just a talent, I guess" he said sitting on her bed.

"Funny" she replied sarcastically. "Are you sure there isn't a smaller room? I feel like I'm taking somebody's room or something." 

"Actually, you're in the smallest guestroom."

"You've got to be kidding me" she said with a sweat drop.

"No, but if you think your going to get lonely you can always stay in my..." Kai got caught off by the phone ringing. "Hello? It's your brother" he said handing her the phone.

"Hey, Ty. Yeah I'm fine. A party? Sure, we'll come. Ok, I'll talk to ya later. Bye." Rachel hung up the phone on the desk beside her bed.

"What did he want" Kai asked.

"The Tri-Elements are having a party this weekend and they wanted all of the Bladebreakers to come."

"So you automatically tell them I'm coming?" he said closing his eyes.

Rachel jumped on the bed beside and clung onto his arm. "Oh come on. It'll be fun. I promise."

"Whatever" he said, trying to cover up the almost invisible blush coming over his cheeks. He stood up and started walking to the door as Rachel crawled under the blankets of her bed.

"Well, my room's down the hall if you need me" he said walking out of the door.

"Hey, Kai."  


"Yeah?"

"Can you turn off the lights for me" Rachel asked with a sheepish grin.

"Sure. Night, Rach."  


"Night, Kai."

Kai turned off the lights and started to head towards his room when something clicked in his mind. That's the girl that Rachel and Ray had that one fight over was on the Tri-Elements. That's when Rachel was about to drop Ray and she came running to him. Maybe this party wasn't such a bad idea after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heather: I'm so evil.

Rachel: Yeah you are. Why are you always plotting against me and Ray?

Ray: That's what I want to know.

Heather: I only do what keeps the readers interested.

Rachel and Ray *mumbles* yeah right

Heather *angrily* I heard that

Rachel and Ray: *meep* *run off*

Heather: ANYWAYS. I'm gonna try to alternate (big word ^_^) updates with this and my other fic so I'm sorry if it takes me a while. Ya can't keep everyone happy all the time. Untill the next chap. cya ^_^


	4. Planning for a Disaster

Heather: Hello again!  


Tyson: Is there anyone out there?

*crickets chirp*

Heather: Crap. This sucks really bad.

Tyson: Well if you would learn to update.

Heather: Hey. I'm trying ok. But dealing with two stories and all my school crap is hard. Plus I'm going insane at my house. It's turning into a hell hole.

Tyson: That's not too good.

Heather: *sarcastically* Really? What gave it away?

Tyson: Sorry. Geez ya psycho path.

Heather: Shut up, ya meanie. Well, I don't own Beyblade. I do own Rachel, Haley owns herself and the Tri-Elements, and Mika is Night Demoness Nyx's and I own myself.

Tyson: That's a lot of names.

Heather: I had to give people credits. Anyways...here's the next chappie. Enjoy^_^

Chapter 4

Planning for a Disaster

"So is everyone coming?"

"Yeah. Everyone thinks it's a great idea. I'm glad your so smart" Max replied into the phone.

CRASH!  
  
"What was that?!" Haley asked, sounding slightly scared.

"Tyson fell off the bed....again."  


"Oh, well the party is gonna start around eight" she said.

"Then I'll be there at seven" he replied.

"Why are you coming over so early? We won't have anything set up yet" she stated.

"I haven't seen you in almost two whole months. I want to see you again. Wait. Did you say we?" Max asked.

"Yeah...me, Amethyst, Chang, Kari, and Heather. Ya know WE as in the Tri-Elements. It is a group party ya goof" Haley replied playfully.

"Guess I forgot. But isn't Kari the one that had a thing for Ray and hurt Rachel?" he asked.

~flashback~

"Shut up, Heather. You know Haley loves to know the details of the other teams."

Heather gave a grin and said "Yeah, and you love to know the details of that boy with the ponytail."  


Kari hit Heather in the shoulder.  
  
"Damn you people are violent. But you know it's true" Heather said rubbing her arm.

"Yeah and I wouldn't be having any trouble either if it weren't for that girl" Kari said glaring at Rachel who was hugging Ray.

~end flashback~

"Yeah" Haley replied.

~flashback...again~

Rachel's blade continued to crash into Kari's before shooting it out of the dish. Kari's blade went right toward Rachel, before slicing into her already injured leg. Rachel screamed out in pain before dropping to the floor. The Bladebreakers ran over to Rachel as Kari calmly walked back to her bench.

"Kari" Haley started.

"What" she replied coldly.

"You better hope that no one finds out that you can control where your blade gets thrown out at."  
  
"Hey, I said she better be ready. And you of all people should know I don't take losing well."

~end flashback~

"Do you think it might cause a problem at the party?" Max asked cautiously. He really wanted to see Haley again, and another Rachel-Ray-Kari incident could really screw it up.

"I hope not. I'll talk to her just in case though. I gotta go now. Love you, bye." Haley said.

"Love you too. Bye" and Max hung up the phone.

~Kai's Mansion~

Rachel was staring at the ceiling. She didn't know why she couldn't sleep. She felt lonely in that big house.

"I don't know how Kai can stand it" she thought out loud to herself.

Suddenly, an ear splitting alarm started to go off. Rachel shot out of her bed as she tried to get an idea of what might be going on. Her eyes kept darting back and forth across the room, trying to figure out what to do. Then, Kai ran into the room in his navy blue boxers ( ^_^) and held onto her.

"Are you alright" he asked quickly as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm fine, but what's going on ?!" she asked still confused.

"It's the security alarm. I need to find out the rest. You go to my room. You'll be safer there" he said as they left the room.

Rachel ran down the hall to Kai's room and slammed the door. She went and sat down on his bed and pulled her legs up to her chest.

'I really need Kai to hurry back. I'm so scared. Wait. Shouldn't I be wanting Ray? What's going on?' she thought to herself.

Kai walked in his room about five minutes later. "Are you sure you're alright, Rach?"  


"Yeah, I'm just a little shaken up. That's all. So what was it?" she asked.

"I don't know. By the time me and some of the security guards got outside, they were gone. I guess the alarms scared 'em off" he said sitting down beside her.

"Good" Rachel said.

"If you don't feel safe, you can stay in here with me if you want."  


"Ok, thanks" she said crawling across the bed to get under the covers.

Kai followed and asked "So what did you think when I came to rescue you?"  
  
"What was I supposed to think?" she asked, eyeballing him oddly.

"I dunno. I ran in there with only my boxers on. I think I at least deserve the title hero" he replied.

"Na. I was thinking more along the lines of sex slave."

"Well...hero, sex slave, either way I'm getting a lot of action."

"Oh yeah, that sounded really heroic" she said while laughing.

"Yeah, well, good night...again" Kai said.

" 'Nite" she said turning on her side and drifting off to sleep.

~Haley's House~

"So you didn't get any information for me?!" the girl yelled.

"I'm sorry, Kari. All I could find out was that she is in fact staying with Kai. I didn't mean to trip the alarms" the green haired girl said, her blue eyes misting up a bit. 

"Don't you start crying, Mika. It'll just piss me off more. Now I want you to try to get more information on Ray" Kari spat.

"If I may ask, why do you want to break her and her boyfriend up?" Mika questioned.

"No you can't ask. But did you say she is staying with Kai?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, while her grandfather is gone. Her brother, Tyson, is at Max's" Mika replied.

"Hmmm. Well I want you to take another visit to the Hiwitari Mansion. I want you to deliver a letter to Kai for me" Kari said calmly.

"OK."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heather: So there you have it.

Tyson: Man, everyone is plotting this story.

Heather: ^_^ I know. Isn't it great?

Tyson: *backs away* suuuurrrrree.

Heather: Well, I hope you guys remember how to review. Now I must be off to write more chapters. Cya ^_^


	5. Apologies and New Social Arrangments

Heather: Hello to all!!! I have finally made my glorious reappearance!

Tyson: And where exactly have you been?

Heather: Well actually the same place as always.

Kenny: Then why has it taken you so long to update?

Heather: Well, I was actually thinking about stopping my story but I still kept getting some really nice reviews and I decided to start writing once again.

Tyson: And who should I murder for this news?

Heather: It was all thanks to Katty, Depp's Girl Forever, Constant-Laughter and the rest of the reviewers. You guys made me so happy and I really appreciate it. So this chapter is dedicated to you guys.

Chapter 5

The sun started to rise and was shining through black curtains. The light traveled across the dark room and shown on the two-tone haired boy's face. Kai stretched, grabbed his pillow, and buried his face into it. He let out a small grunt as he rolled over and opened his auburn eyes. He shot straight out of his bed, realizing something was missing.

Rachel. He knew she fell asleep in the bed with him last night because he was too worried about her being by herself. He quickly jumped out of bed and roughly put on his pants (he was wearing boxers) as he rushed out his room. Terrible thoughts began to flood his mind as he ran down his long hallway. Maybe the trespasser came back and kidnapped Rachel. She could be held hostage, could be tortured, or maybe even......No. He couldn't think like that. There had to be an explanation. He had made it to his front door when it swung open, almost knocking him over. Kai jumped back and stared in the doorway.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" said a feminine voice.

"And where the hell were you?!" Kai demanded.

" I just went on my morning jog" Rachel said glaring at him. "What's your problem this morning?"

"I'm.......I'm sorry" Kai said almost silently.

"Wha....what?" Rachel questioned, staring at him in disbelief. She slowly walked up to him and put her hand on his forehead. "Are you coming down with something?"

"I'm fine" Kai said, brushing her hand off. He started to head toward his kitchen while letting out a silent sigh. 'Thank God she's alright. I'm just being paranoid' he thought to himself.

Rachel stood in the doorway, still confused about what had just happened. Kai had actually apologized for something. She shook the idea away as she realized she was by herself. She followed Kai into the kitchen, deciding it was time for her to eat. She started to rummage through the refrigerator and pulled out and cup of yogurt. "So what are you planning on doing today?" she asked Kai.

"I dunno. Probably practice."

"That's all you ever do. You really need to get a social life" she said between bites.

"And you need to quit getting eating habits from your brother" he said with a smirk.

Rachel looked at him with a puzzled look before noticing she had yogurt on her chin. She ran and grabbed a paper towel and wiped it off. "I have nothing in common with my brother except our parents and blading. So there."

"Not true. Your just as stubborn. But anyways, what are you going to do. I could use someone to practice with."

"Oh, I'm sorry" she said, throwing her spoon into the sink. "I told Ray that I'd go see him today."

"I could have sworn you were pissed at him when I went to pick you up yesterday" Kai said. Oh yeah. That was a great day. Rachel was in another room of her house yelling at Ray about him not trusting her. And Rachel catching Ray and himself yelling threats at each other was wonderful (refer to ch.3). It couldn't have made his plans any easier.

"Well....actually I talked to him earlier, before I ran, and he apologized. OHHHH! Before I forget. I called Max, too, to make sure Tyson wasn't being annoying (a.n. fat chance. oops sorry) and he said that they're moving the party up to tomorrow night. Is that going to mess up any of your plans?"

Kai thought to himself for a minute. 'If the party is tomorrow night, I only have today and tomorrow to get my idea straightened out' Kai realized that Rachel was giving him an odd look so he shook his head. "No, that's fine, I guess. It's not like I'm that excited about it anyways. Parties are such a waste of time."

Rachel let out a little snort. "For some weird reason I thought you would say something like that."

"Call me, predictable."

"Yeah, well, I'm about to head out. You can come too, if you want to, that is."

"Thanks but no thanks" he said. turning to head out of the kitchen. " Like I said, I need to practice"

"Ok" she said. "I guess it would be a better. I don't want to see ya'll in another fight." Rachel walked out of the kitchen. She started for the front door and shouted back " I should be back around 2:00. Later!"

"Bye" Kai replied as the door shut behind her. 'I don't have much time. I know that Rachel is having trouble trusting Ray. There's got to be some way I can play off of that to get her pissed off enough at him to make her want to come to me. But what?'

"So how long were you apologizing to her?" Kenny asked Ray.

Ray was brushing his teeth in the bathroom. "Oh man, chief. It was forever. I really made her mad yesterday. I'm surprised she even stayed on the phone with me."

"What did you do? Did you lie to her or something?" Kenny asked curiously.

"No. I was arguing with Kai."

"Kai? What were you doing talking to Kai?'

"What's with the twenty questions?" Ray said wiping his mouth and walking out of the bathroom. "Actually, she's staying at his house while her grandfather is out of town."

"No wonder you were so upset yesterday." Kenny said opening up his laptop.

"Ooooo, the drama continues" Dizzi rang out.

"Thanks for the support, Dizz" Ray replied sarcastically.

"Come on, Ray. You can't honestly think Rachel would do anything with Kai. You know you can trust her" Kenny stated.

"Exactly. I mean it's obvious she's crazy about you or she wouldn't go through everything she has with you" the bit beast continued.

"Of course I trust Rach" Ray started. " It's Kai that I don't trust. I'm sure that he would try just about anything to get her to be with him instead of me."

"Not much we can do there. Oh, Chief, you got an email this morning from Max" Dizzi said.

"From Max? Why didn't he just call?" Kenny asked, opening the email.

"What is it? Don't leave me hanging here" Ray said, walking behind Kenny so he could look at the computer screen.

"It's an invitation to a party. It's at Max's house and all the Bladebreakers are invited. It look like the Tri-Elements are coming too."

"That's not good" Ray stated.

"Why not?"

"That girl that almost broke me and Rachel up is on that team" he said concerned.

"But so is Max's girlfriend and I really want to talk to her. I think it will be fun" the Chief replied excitedly.

" I might just wait to see what Rachel thinks about it before I decide if I want to go."

"Someone sounds whipped" Dizzi shot.

"Shut up before I accidentally spill water on the laptop" Ray threatened.

"NOOOOO!!!!" Kenny screamed, grabbing his laptop, holding it tight against his chest and running to his room.

" I was only kidding" Ray shouted before he heard a door slam. He let out a small sigh. 'Man, no one can take a joke.'

Kari was sitting in her chair, her chin in one hand and the other tapping nervously on the arm of the chair. 'This can't be happening' she thought to herself.

"Ummm...Kari?" Mika cautiously spoke, poking her head through the door.

"What is it?" she spoke in a malevolent tone.

"I was just wondering...uhh.. have you spoken to Haley today?"

"Yes I've talked to that brat!" she yelled. Mika clinched her eyes closed at the screams. She was just hoping not to get anything thrown at her. "How could she do this to me? How am I supposed to get together a brilliant plan in just one day?! Tell me!!"

"Well" Mika began softly.

"Well what?" Kari demanded.

"Well...I was eavesdropping on Ray...like you told me to....and apparently Kai has been trying break up Ray and Rachel himself."

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD TO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME IN............wait. It did seem like Kai wanted to be with Rachel at the Caribbean Tournament. Hmmmmmm..."

"Maybe he would be willing to work with you.."

"And help me destroy their relationship!" Kari said, cutting off Mika. "It's ingenious. But would he be interested?" she pondered, rubbing her chin. " And if he was, when would I have the chance to meet with him without that annoying little twit finding out?"

Mika cut in saying " She was supposed to have left the mansion about twenty minutes ago and is supposed to be with Ray until around 2:00."

"Well that only leave less than six hours to get everything worked out....Listen up, Mika." Mika shot up straight and tall and waited for her instructions.

Kai was in his backyard watching Dranzer circle the dish. 'Am I going to be able to pull anything off?' He had Dranzer return to his hand and reloaded his launcher. He rested his arms by his side, leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. 'Why can't she just realize that I am better for her?' He quickly snapped back, turned around, and readied his launcher at the person behind him.

"Who are you?!" he shouted.

"I'm just a messenger" said the girl, handing Kai an envelope.

Kai lowered his launcher and grabbed the envelope and started opening it. "How did you get past my security?" he questioned the intruder. He looked up and there was no one there. He gazed around his yard and found no sign of the girl.

"What is going on?" he questioned soflty.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Heather: So there it is.

Kai: It's about damn time.

Heather: Geez. I know it was a while but that is no reason for that kind of harshness.

Kai: Yeah.... Whatever.

Heather: Typical. But anyways, I hope you guys like it. It was like pulling teeth trying to get it out. I don't know how long it will take for the next chapter. Just keep on reviewing. They aren't going unappreciated! 


	6. Rumble In The Jungle I Mean Park

Heather: Soooo.. I finally got off my lazy ass and got to writing again. I'm sorry about the wait and I hope you guys like it.

Chapter 6

Rumble in the Jungle..Er..I mean...Park

Kai looked around, trying to see where his mysterious visitor had disappeared to. He let out a sigh. 'I'm so glad I can rely on my great security system and guards' he thought to himself. He stared at the envelope in his hand and proceeded to open it. Kai pulled out the piece of paper and began to read it.

Mr. Hiwatari,

I'm sure you're aware that Haley of the Tri-Elements and Max of your team are having a little "get-together". And, I am aware that there is a certain someone on your team that is closer to your heart than you want anyone to know. I know about your feelings for Rachel. I can help you get what you so desperately desire. If you believe, Mr. Hiwatari, that my help would be of assistance, which I can promise it will be, meet me in the park at sunset. The giant tree by the bey dish would be an excellent spot. I will be waiting to hear some of your ideas.

Hope to See You,

Your Partner in Crime

"Partner in crime" Kai snorted. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What are you talking about to yourself? I swear you're coming down with something" said a voice from behind him.

"What the hell are you doing sneaking around?" he yelled, turning to face the person that had disturbed his train of thought.

"Well that's one hell of a welcoming" Rachel spat. "Especially when I came back to see if you wanted to come to lunch with us."

"Come on, Kai. I know me and you have had our fights, but we can get over it and be friends again" Ray said, trying to persuade him to join.

"See? It can be like old times...minus Tyson's annoyance. Come on, we're gonna go to the park to get hot dogs." Rachel was trying her best to get Kai to go along.

"Oh yes. Only the best" Kai replied sarcastically, stuffing the letter into his pocket.

"Whatever dude. But we could go to the bey dish there and blade if you really want to get some training in." Ray knew he struck a chord. He knew that Kai couldn't refuse if there was going to be a chance to practice. He would have no reason to stay all cooped up.

"Fine" Kai finally said. 'If we go to the park' he thought to himself, 'I can just wait, let Rachel and Ray leave, and find out what exactly is going on with the person who gave me this note.'

"Alright!" Rachel said cheerfully, starting to drag the two boys out of the yard."

"I think we can walk on our own, Rach" Ray said, trying to keep up with her pace.

"Huh? Oh" she releasing their arms. "Sorry, I guess I got kind of excited because you two are starting to get along again."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure the park is still going to be there even if it takes us an extra five minutes" Kai stated.

"Max!" Tyson screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What! What's wrong" Max asked frantically. Tyson was lying on the floor. He looked like he had passed out. Max ran to his side and tried to sit him up. "Tyson! Tyson! What happened?"

Tyson slowly lifted his arm and pointed. "There" he almost whispered.

"Huh?" Max questioned, looking at the fridge. "Do you need something to drink? Are you going to pass out?" Max laid Tyson back down and ran to open the refrigerator. "Hmmm, not much to choose from..."

"I KNOW!" Tyson started to cry. "Where's all the food? I'm going to waste away to nothing! Look! My pants are already getting too loose! I have to hold them up!"

Max eyed him and in a monotone voice said "that's because you're not wearing your belt."

"That's besides the point!" Tyson whined, squirming on the floor. "I'm gonna die if I don't get something to eat soon."

"Fine" Max sighed. "Let's go and we can get something to eat at the park."

"Yeah!" Tyson shouted excitedly. He jumped up and started running to Max's room.

"Hey! Where are you going? I thought we were going to leave?"

"Yeah. I know. I'm just going to grab Dragoon because there's that dish in the park. I'm sure my adoring fans would love to see me in action" replied Tyson.

Max sweat dropped. "Oh yeah. I'm sure your _fans_ would love to see you stuff your face."

"I can't believe this!" Rachel screamed. The park was swamped with kids and their beyblades. "Where did they all come from? There aren't even this many kids in my school!"

"It is pretty crowded" Ray stated. "I wonder what's going on. It's like the circus is in town with all the booths."

'This is just great. How am I going to get to talk to that person in secret with all these people around?' Kai thought to himself. The group kept walking around, trying to figure out what was going on when Kai stepped on a piece of paper. He stopped and bent down to pick it up as Rachel and Ray continued on walking.

"Huh? Hey Kai, why'd you stop?" Rachel asked, turning around and walking up to him. "What's that you got in your hand?"

"It's a flyer."

Ray walked up and asked "What's it for?"

"It says that this is a bey-expo. Their trying to show off new parts and blades. Not that any of it will help these wanna-be bladers. No amount of fancy parts can help these kids" Kai spat.

"That's kinda harsh. You were a beginner, too, ya know" Rachel replied. "But that's beside the point" she said, placing her hands on her hips.

"And what exactly _would_ the point be" Ray questioned, eyeing her curiously.

"It would be that we came here for lunch and I still haven't eaten yet. I'm starving!"

The boys collapsed.

"Careful, Rach. You're showing that you're Tyson's sister" Kai stated with a smug grin.

"I am not" she pouted.

"You sure sound like him to me" Ray said while laughing.

Rachel gave him a slight shove. "Hey, that's not fair. You're supposed to be on my side. How are you going to side with Kai over me?"

"We're having a bonding moment" he said, putting his hand on Kai's shoulder.

"Yeah. Bonding" Kai replied, brushing his hand off. "Anyways...there has to be a food tent around so we can feed our little Tyson."

"I resent that."

"So...did he give you any answer toward the letter?" Kari asked, strumming her fingers together.

"Um...well...I didn't know I was supposed to wait" Mika said warily.

"What do you mean you didn't wait!" she shouted with fire in her eyes.

"He is bigger than me and really scary and we were alone and he has all that security and...and...and he's really scary!" Mika squeaked, pulling herself closer to the door.

"You shouldn't worry about Kai, you should be more worried about me!" Kari shouted, throwing a glass. It shattered against the wall, right beside Mika's head. Kari slowly walked up to the girl cowering on the floor in front of her. "I'm going to tell you this once and only once. If you ever again do not complete the tasks I give you, well, let's just say Kai _and_ his guards wouldn't be able to control my wrath."

"I understand. It's just that...I didn't want to expose you because if he knew that it was you, he might not come because of the past between you and Rachel."

"I see. But if I am out waiting and he doesn't show..."

"Yes, I know." Mika said quietly.

"Ray, Rachel, and Kai?"

"Huh?" Ray questioned, turning around.

Kai and Rachel turned around, too, to see who interrupted their search. Rachel let a small sigh escape. "I should have known you would smell food and come running."

"Hey, at least he's not crawling around on my kitchen floor anymore" Max replied, shaking his head.

"Come on, guys," Tyson pleaded, "you know I'm growing.

SLAP!

"Yeah, growing to be a huge pain in my ass" Rachel stated, shaking the sting out of her hand.

"OW!" Tyson shouted, rubbing the back of his head. "What the heck was that for!"

"I thought I told you not to be a pain while you're staying at Max's!" she shouted.

"I'm not! I just wanted something to eat!" he retorted.

"Geez. I don't know how they can live together" Ray stated as the two continued to argue.

"I know. You'd think they would have killed each other by now" Max replied. 'I sure would have' he thought to himself.

"AHHH!" Tyson screamed, making small groups of beybladers to turn to see what was going on.

Rachel had her brother in a headlock as she grabbed hot dogs off of a stand's counter. "What! I thought you wanted something to eat!" she shouted as she shoved the food into his face.

"I swear you're nuts! I want to eat it not wear it, you freakin' psycho!" he screamed as he shoved himself out from her grip.

"Psycho! I'll show you a psycho, you little twit!"

"Get her guys!" Kai shouted. He grabbed one of her arms as Ray grabbed the other and Max got around her waist. She tried to lunge at Tyson but could barely move. "Stop it, Rachel! Everyone's looking at you like you're a lunatic!" Kai shouted at her.

"Hahahaha. What are you gonna do now, tough girl?" Tyson mocked.

"You better leave her alone or we'll let her go" Ray warned.

Rachel took a few deep breaths. "I'm fine now, guys. You can let me go now."

The boys all looked at each other and decided to let her go.

An Hour Later

"Man that was good" Max announced as he sprawled out on a park bench.

"Aw man. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get up off this bench" Ray replied.

"You're so lazy" Rachel said.

"You're one to talk" he replied. Rachel was lying on the bench with her head resting on his leg.

"I could get up if I wanted to," she said trying to push herself up but failing, "but I just don't feel like it right now."

"Yeah, whatever" Max said, laughing as Tyson ran up to Rachel. He leaned over to try to catch his breath.

"What's up with you?" she asked, eying him suspiciously.

"Well...(huff)...I was looking at this stand...(huff, huff)...when I saw this awesome...(huff)...attack ring. Can I get it?"

"Is that a round-about way of trying to scam me out of money?"

"Scam is such a mean word" he said with a smug grin.

"No way. I just paid for your lunch...again. You get allowance. Use your money."

"Ray, how about loaning a good friend..."

"No way, Tyson. I'm savin up my money for new parts, too" he replied.

"Maxy!' Tyson shouted happily.

"Sorry, bud. I have to help Haley pay for stuff for the party."

"Aw man" he whined. "I know! Kai always has money..."

"Do you honestly think _Kai_, the one who will deprive you of food just to piss you off, who tortures you for the hell of it, will lend you, of all people, money?" Rachel questioned.

"He might. Maybe he's sick and won't realize it's me asking." He looked around. "Hey, where is the sourpuss?"

"He was here a minute ago" Ray said, looking around too.

"Don't worry about it. He probably just thought he was being social for too long" Max stated.

"I can't believe I'm actually waiting for someone I don't even know" Kai told himself, leaning against the tree with his arms crossed across his chest.

"We all do odd things to get what we want" replied a feminine voice from behind him.

"Oh great. What can a girl do to get what I want?" Kai spat.

"Quite a lot" she replied.

"Whatever. You're just another pathetic girl from that stupid Tri-Elements team."

"Watch your mouth!" Kari growled at him.

"And what would you suggest, we lure Ray out of town with some cookies?" he asked sarcastically. "I'm outta here" he finished, walking off.

"I was thinking more along the lines of setting Ray up so that our little miss Rachel will never be able to trust a two-timing boyfriend like him again" Kari shouted at his back.

Kai stopped and turned back around. "I'm listening."

Heather: Holy crap that took me a long time.

Tyson: It wouldn't take as long if you weren't so lazy.

Heather: Oh yeah. Like you're one to talk about me being lazy. Well, I hope you guys liked it and just so you know, I've already started writing the next chapter. I would like it, though, if ya'll want the plan to succeed or not. I haven't decided yet, so I want to see what you guys think. well r/r and I'll be back with another chapter.


	7. Secret Meetings Can't Be Healthy

Heather: So here it is, finally. The next installment in my long and dragged out story.

Tyson: Tell me about it.

Heather: I just did.

Tyson: It's just a saying. Only you have to take everything seriously and ruin the joke.

Heather: Like your one to talk.

Tyson: What is that supposed to mean!

Heather: It means I making you my slave, so do the damn disclaimer since I have been neglecting it.

Tyson: Whatever, crackpot. Heather doesn't own bey blade.

Chapter 7

Secret Meetings Can't Be Healthy

"Come on, Rach" Tyson whined. "You have to help me find Kai."

"Why should I do anything for you?"

"Because. You're my big sister. You're supposed to care about me!

"I care about shutting you up" she replied.

"That might not happen for a while" Max told her.

"I guess you're right on that one Maxie." She let out a small sigh. "So where do you think he ran off to?"

"He's probably just wandering around" Ray said.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find him no problem" Tyson grinned.

"What do you mean _I'll_ find him? You're the one that wants to bother him" she shouted.

"But he won't let me borrow the money."

"Then why are we even talking about it? You just won't get the part. End of story."

"I may not be able to get money out of him, but you could since you're so _close" _he cooed.

"Watch it, Tyson" Ray growled at the younger Granger.

"You're walking on a thin line there, buddy" Max said.

"Will all of you just be quiet! If it will just get you to shut up, Tyson, I'll go" Rachel shouted.

"I'll go with you" Ray said, beginning to push himself up from the park bench.

"No" Rachel said turning around. "Just stay here. I doubt I'd be good company right now anyways." And with that, she walked off to find Kai.

"Good job, Tyson. You just had to keep bugging her, didn't you" Ray questioned, obviously annoyed.

"What did I do?" Tyson asked with a look of total confusion.

"And by the time that Ray 'might' know what's going on, Rachel would have seen everything and will never want to look at him again" Kari finished.

"It sounds like it just might work" Kai said to her. "I have just one question, though."

"And what might that be" she asked, basking in the praise from the normally brooding boy.

"What will you get out of it? I mean, you were the one that tried to take Rachel out of the Caribbean tournament" he said with a hate-filled look on his face.

"Oh, I see" she snickered to herself. "You're still sore about what happened, huh?" she said as a smirk crossed her lips.

"That's one way to put it" he scowled.

"Well, it's not that I have anything against her as a person, I just hate the fact that her little boyfriend will bend over backwards to do anything for her." Her face turned to a look of disdain.

Kai began to laugh as he listened to her.

"What's so funny?" she spat.

"You. You're jealous of Rachel" he said, suppressing his laughter.

"What!" she sputtered, her face turning red with anger.

"Don't get me wrong. I think it's cute. You having a crush on Ray and all. But do you honestly think he'd go to someone else after such a long relationship with Rachel? And so soon after? An out of all the people he knows, that it'd be you?"

"Uh, just so you know, that's exactly what you're trying to do, Mr. High-and-Mighty" Kari replied.

"Whatever" Kai snorted.

"Well, I need to know if you're in or out" she said, extending her hand out to him.

Kai looked down at her hand, not knowing whether or not he should go through with it. 'Should I?' he thought to himself. 'I know that I want Rachel. Badly. But should I risk it? I mean, what if she finds out the whole thing was a set up? And that I was a part of it. She would never talk to me again or at least never trust me. Am I willing to risk what I already have with her? Would I be able to handle losing everything?' The thoughts flooded through his mind.

"What is it going to be?" she asked, snapping Kai out of his train of thought.

"Fine" he stated, grabbing her hand and shaking it.

"Kai! Where are you!"

Kai quickly dropped her hand. "That's Rachel. You need to get out of here fast."

"You don't have to tell me twice. I'll see you at the party." With that, Kari shot off towards a crowd of kids that were surrounding a near by bey dish. She slid her way through and got lost in the group.

"There you are. What have you been up to?" Rachel asked, walking up to Kai.

"Walking around. So where's the peanut gallery?" He noticed that she was by herself.

"Passed out on a park bench."

"Well, what do you want?" he questioned, turning his back to her and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Huh? I can't be worried about you when you run off for like an hour in a park full of obsessed fans? That hurts." She pouted, sticking out her lower lip for effect.

"Whatever. Like you should be worried about me" he started, turning back around to face her. "I am a big boy you know" he said, leaning his head in closer to hers.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just trying to be nice."

"Sure." Kai turned back around. "So what do you want?"

"You're such a jackass" Rachel said shoving him. He barely moved. "But since you asked, could I borrow some money? Please, please, pleeeeeeeease…"

"I knew it" he snorted.

"Well, you kept asking, so I figured I could get something out of it."

"Whatever. But why do you need to borrow money? You have cash. What? Ray is so desperate that he's gonna use all of your money now?"

"Shut up. Actually it's for Tyson" Rachel replied.

"And why the hell should I lend your brother money? He drives me insane."

"Because he won't be quiet. He's driving us all nuts! You have to… for my sanity" she begged, pulling on his arm.

"As great as it is to have you begging me for anything, I actually left my wallet at the house" Kai told her, a grin crossing his face.

"Damn it" she swore, dropping his arm. "Well, can you at least come back to the group and tell him that?"

"Why should I have to explain to him that he needs to spend his own damn money?" he scowled at her.

"Because I think he's become immune to my rantings."

"If only we were all so lucky" he laughed.

"Shut up and come on" Rachel spat, grabbing his arm and dragging him behind her for the second time that day.

"What do you think could be taking her so long" Ray asked, leaning his head off the back of the park bench. The sun had begun to set and most of the booths were beginning to shut down.

"Yeah, I know. But I probably should have went with her anyway" he sighed.

"Nah" Tyson said. He was lying on the grass next to the others. "She gets kinda moody if she doesn't get her space every now and then."

"I know what ya mean" Ray laughed in agreement.

"But she sure is taking her sweet time. I'm not gonna get that part if she doesn't hurry up" Tyson whined.

"I'm sure it'll just destroy her if she couldn't con people out of money for you" Max joked.

"I didn't tell her to con money out of Kai."

"Yeah…you kind of did" Ray replied.

"Noooo… I simply asked her to see if Kai would lend me the money" he stated matter-of-factly. "Hey! There she is with the sourpuss!" He shouted, jumping to his feet.

Ray leaned up to see that it actually was Rachel and Kai. "Finally."

"Hey guys. I found the lost one" Rachel chirped.

"I wasn't lost" Kai stated solemnly.

"Hey Kai, ol' buddy, ol' pal!" Tyson said happily, slinging his arm over Kai's shoulder. Kai quickly shoved it off.

"I'm not letting you borrow any money either" he stated flatly.

"Aw man!"

"I tried, Ty" Rachel told her younger brother.

"It's starting to get dark. Maybe we should head out" Max chimed in.

"Yeah, we probably should. You ready to go, Rach?" Ray asked, standing up and stretching his arms.

"Sure. We'll see you guys later" she said, waving to Max and Tyson as they left. "Aren't you coming?" she turned to Kai to see him staring off into space.

"Earth to Kai, we're all leaving" Ray said, waving his hand in front of his eyes.

Kai knocked the hand from his view. "I'm coming."

"Alright. Then let's go. I'll call you tomorrow, Ray" Rachel stated, turning her attention to her boyfriend.

"Huh? I thought I was gonna walk you back?" he asked.

"You'd be going out of the way. It's not like I'll be by myself. Kai's gonna be walking with me. Besides, Kenny has been by himself all day. I'm sure he's feeling kind of lonely" she stated.

"But I wanted to talk to you about something" he said.

"About what?" she questioned.

"Well I didn't really want to talk about it in front of everyone."

"Everyone's left" she replied with annoyance in her voice. 'He's been so vague lately. And so secretive about stuff. It's getting really annoying' Rachel thought to herself.

"Well…"

"If you're not going to talk to me here, then I'll just talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah…sure" he said reluctantly. He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she turned her head so he gave her a slight kiss on her cheek. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Bye."

"Bye."

" I… I love you, Rach" he said.

"Huh?"…. 'Why did that catch me off guard so much?'…."Love ya" she said, running off.

Back at Kai's House 

"What's up with you" Kai asked. "You're the one that's out of it now."

"Huh? Oh…uh… it's nothing" she replied, waving him off.

"Whatever."

"Hey, I need to blow off some frustration. You want practice with me?"

"You sure that's really a good idea?" he asked her. " I mean, you can't beat me when you're upset, or any other time for that matter."

"Sure. But you were the one that said you needed someone to practice with this morning. So what do you say?" she said, pulling her blade out of her pocket. She started making her way outside before even getting an answer.

"Well, when you put it that way."

Rachel readied her launcher and waited for Kai to get his blade out. "Are we gonna do this sometime today?" she asked.

"Let's go. 3.2.1...Let It Rip!"

Both blades landed in the dish and started making their rounds, trying to find a good time to attack. Kai was the first to make contact. The sparks were flying off of the blades and Dranzer was slowly, but surely, pushing Redler towards the edge of the dish.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea" he said smugly to her.

"That's what you think. Redler, Flash Strike Attack!" Her blade started spinning in circles, gaining speed on the outside rim of the dish. Redler kept moving until the blade was a constant blur of light in the dish. "I don't hear you saying anything now, Kai."

"That's because I can't believe you."

"What?"

Rachel's blade went in for the kill, but Dranzer easily dodged the attack and the momentum to crash the opposing blade. Rachel's blade hit the edge of the dish and bounced into the air but managed to land back in the center.

"There's no way" Rachel whispered to herself. She decided to speak up. "There's no way that my attack could have missed. I perfected it!"

"You seem to forget that I am the team captain and it's my job to know all my players' attacks. Now if you want a real attack, Dranzer, Flame Sabre!"

"And you seem to forget that I'm co-captain. Well, here's a new one for you. I like to call it Shock Wave!"

"What!" Kai yelled in disbelief.

As Kai's blade lunged toward Rachel's, Redler shot up into the air. Light began to radiate from her blade. The light grew brighter and brighter. Small, purple orbs began to be drawn towards the blade.

"How can it collect that much energy" Kai wondered in disbelief, staring at the hovering blade.

"I don't…think I… have enough… energy" Rachel struggled to say.

Kai looked at her and realized that the orbs were being drawn from Rachel's body. 'She's using her own energy to supply the attack' he thought to himself. "Rachel!" he screamed. " You have to call off the attack! You can't handle it!"

But her blade kept drawing energy from her.

Heather: Well, It's been a while since I've left you guys with a good cliff hanger. I plan on updating soon. But with all these damn hurricanes, I'll just have to wait and see. I have got back into writing this story and I think you all should like some of the stuff I'm planning on adding to it. Just don't forget to review. Tell me what ya think!


	8. Party Time!

Heather: Damn It!

Kai: What crawled up your butt?

Heather: LEAVE ME ALONE! (runs and sits in a corner)

Kai: (to Tyson)Not that I really care, but what is she doing?

Tyson: Well, she's kind of upset.

Kai: I can see that for myself, genius.

Tyson: Well, she's been working really hard on the story and hasn't gotten any reviews. (gets hit in the head with a flying baseball bat)

Heather: I DON'T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY! (runs out of the room screaming insanely)

Kai: May God spare us all.

Chapter 8

Party Time!

"So how was your day, Chief?" Ray asked walking into to Kenny's room.

"I guess you could say it was eventful" he replied, with a smirk on his face.

Ray stared at him confused for a second. "What's with the look?"

"You know how Mr. Dickenson called me the other day? Well he asked me to try and find a tournament that we could go to since it's so long until the next world championships."

"So did you find anything?" he asked as he plopped himself on to Kenny's bed.

"Did I ever! Check this out!" he said, pointing to his computer screen.

Ray stood up and walked over. He started looking at the screen and skimming over the information that was sitting in front of him. "Let's see. Rules….regulations….registration…Tournament of Champions!"

"That's right. They're calling it the Sunrise Tournament and it's in Australia. They get the top four teams in the world and the winner of the tournament gets to skip the qualifying rounds at the World Championships!"

"That's so cool, Kenny" Ray shouted, excitedly. "Have you told Mr. Dickenson what you found?"

"Yes. He's already making arrangements. And good thing, too. It's in three weeks."

"Guess we need to start practicing."

"Come on, Rachel! You have to snap out of it!" Kai shouted.

Rachel was going into a trance. More and more purple orbs were surrounding her body and then moving to her bey blade.

" I…can't….take it" she said softly. Tears were beginning to run down her cheeks.

'What do I do?' Kai wondered. He stared up at her blade that was just hovering in the air. 'It's too strong for me to attack head on.' Then he saw that the trees branches were still hanging down low over the dish. "That's it. Dranzer! Flame Sabre!" His blade shot up along the tree and scorched across the branches. They were instantly engulfed in flames and breaking. One, then two branches fell onto Rachel's blade. Finally, Dranzer made a harsh hit and knocked the blade to the ground. When her blade made contact with the grass, Rachel fell to her knees.

"Rachel!" Kai shouted, as he ran over to her.

She placed her face into her hands and let her tears flow.

"Hey, you're ok, now. So you're not ready to use an attack yet. You'll live."

"It's not that" she sobbed.

"Huh?"

"I don't care about that stupid attack. I… I just don't… I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Do about what?" he asked.

"Ray."

"What do you mean?"

"I keep getting this feeling that he's hiding something from me. You don't think he would cheat on me, do you?" she asked, lifting her head up to look into his eyes.

"Uh… I don't really think I…"

"I can't sit here and act like everything's just fine between me and him. I mean, I just seem to keep getting frustrated at him. I feel like everything me and him worked for is going down the drain."

"Both of you have had rough times…" Kai replied.

"Do you think it's worth it?"

Kai sucked in a quick breath.

flashback Kai's POV

Should I risk it? What if she finds out the whole thing was a set up. And that I was a part of it. She would never talk to me again or at least never trust me. Am I willing to risk what I already have with her? Would I be able to handle losing everything?

end of flashback

"I can't say. I mean, it's your life, after all. But whatever you decide , know that I'm behind you."

"I appreciate that" she said weakly. She began to stand up on her shakey legs. She started losing her balance but Kai grabbed her elbows before she could fall.

"However, I don't think you should try that attack again for a while."

"Point taken."

"Let's get you in bed. You need to rest to get your energy back."

Riiiing…Riiiing…Riiiiiing.

"That's funny. Didn't you say that Rachel and Kai went back to his house?" Kenny asked, holding the phone to his ear.

"Yeah, why? What's up?" Ray asked.

Kenny placed the phone back on the receiver. "Well, the phone's been ringing for a while and nobody answered."

" I wonder if something happened."

Riiing…Riiiing

"Hello?" Ray said picking up the phone.

"It's Kai."

"Hey, Kai. What are you doing calling?"

"I do have caller I.D. You're the one that called here."

"Oh yeah. Well, is everything alright? Nobody picked up the phone?"

"Yeah. Me and Rachel had a match and she got wore out from it so I had to take her to her bed." Kai couldn't believe he had actually called back. He knew that it was Ray that called and he really didn't want to talk to him. "That can't be why you actually called, could it. Because if it is then…"

"Actually, Kenny had something he needed to talk to you about." Ray handed the phone over to Kenny.

"Hi Kai. I'm not bothering you am I?" he asked politely.

"What do you want, chief?"

"Well, Mr. Dickenson had put me in charge of finding a tournament for us to enter to keep our skills up and I found one. I just wanted to get your input on it."

"Where is it and who's going?"

"It's in Australia. Sydney to be specific. And right now it looks like its going to be the Majestics, the Tri- Elements and the Demolition Boys. But there will be a qualifier a couple days before so it's not definite."

"When is it going to be?" Kai asked sternly.

"In three weeks." Kenny replied.

"I'll talk it over with Rachel and then we'll contact everyone."

"Ok. I'll guess I hear from you later. Bye" click "Why do I always get so nervous when I talk to Kai?"

"He's a pretty intimidating guy, Chief" Ray replied.

Kai walked into Rachel's bedroom. She was exactly as he had left her. Her hair was slightly covering her face as she gently gripped her pillow in her hands. He had placed her in the bed because she could barely make it up the stairs on her on. 'She needs her rest. I'll talk to her in the morning.'

He quietly closed her door and started to head towards his room. "Probably wouldn't hurt to get a little shut eye of my own" he said to himself. 'I'll need all the energy I can get for tomorrow night. That girl better know what she's doing.

The Next Morning

"Hey Maxie!"

"Haley!" He shouted with excitement as he ran and gave her a hug. "You're early. I thought you weren't coming over until noon?"

"Well, I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a jump start. We do need to still go shopping, don't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Max replied.

"Who are you?" asked the black haired girl, rubbing her eyes lazily.

"That was kinda rude" Max replied to the girl standing beside him.

"It's fine. I'm Haley. And I'm guessing that you're Raven."

"Ya hit the nail on the head" Raven replied. She extended her hand to the other girl who took and shook it.

"It's nice to finally meet you" Haley said with a smile.

"And it's nice to see that Max doesn't have an imaginary girlfriend. Well, I'm going back to sleep."

Max stared at his sister wide-eyed. "I am so sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. Now let's go shopping." she said, grabbing his arm.

"Yeah, we should probably get the food before Tyson wakes up."

"Come on, Kai. Hurry up. Everyone's probably already there" Rachel shouted at his bedroom door.

"I refuse to go to…a party" he began with disgust. "Especially when I don't want to be around anyone there."

"Get over yourself. You already said you would so…SUCK IT UP AN GET OUT HERE!"

Kai opened his door and glared at her.

"Ooooo, I'm so scared" she stated sarcastically. "Now let's go."

"Why can't you just be like the others and be intimidated by me?" he asked, walking with her out of the house.

"Because my brain's bigger than a peanut." Kai snorted at her before she continued. "Besides, look who I live with. There isn't much that I could be afraid of."

"I guess you do have a point."

"Of course I do. Now let's hurry before we're late."

Music was playing in the background as Amethyst tried to get Kari to get up and dance. Max was dancing with Haley, Ray was talking to Chang while Heather was trying to get Kenny to talk to her instead of his laptop, and Tyson was sitting on the couch with his plate of snacks.

"I told you we were going to be late" Max heard a voice yell outside. He ran to open the door to see Kai and Rachel standing on his front porch.

"Hey, you finally made it! Ray shouted over the music.

"Glad you decided to come" Max said, waving them in. Both of the teens walked in and Rachel walked up and gave Ray a small hug.

"Yeah, it took a while to finally get Kai out of his room but we made it" she replied.

"You must be Rachel" Haley said, walking up to her.

"Yeah. And you must be…"

"Haley."

"Yeah. It's nice to finally get to talk to you. Without being in a competition, that is" Rachel replied with a smile.

"I know what ya mean" she laughed with her.

"I guess we should introduce everyone since you have a new person" Max said, standing beside Haley.

"Sure" Haley said. "Ok, well I'm Haley and the rest of the team is Amethyst, Kari, Chang, Heather, and our newbie Mika."

Everyone started talking to one another. Mika walked over and began to talk with Rachel about the new tournament and blading.

Kai noticed that Rachel was busy in her own conversation and saw Kari walking towards the kitchen. He followed her in and closed the door behind him. "I won't let you do it" he told her.

"What! All you have to do is give Ray the cup and I'll take care of the rest" she replied, acting irritated.

"I don't care. I can't let you do it because it'll hurt her, too."

"Awww, you're turning into a softy" she said, slamming down the cup.

"You don't know a damn thing" he growled. "I know what I need to do and you better realize that I'm not going to let you go through with this."

"I knew this would happen" she yelled. "I get a fool-proof plan and you have to go and get a conscience!"

"Whatever" he said leaving the kitchen.

'This can't be happing' Kari thought angrily. 'So. Kai thinks he can bail on me and think everything's going to be fine? Well, I've got a new plan. And it _will_ work. And there's nothing he can do about it.'

Tyson: See, guys. She actually can update.

Kai: And even I have to admit that this thing might be getting better.

Tyson: Yeah! And I even sneaked on to her computer and saw what she's planning. It's really good.

Heather: You hacked onto my computer! YOU JERK! But I really need some support guys. I know it took me a while but I know where I'm going with it finally. And plus, there's a tournament coming. Everyone knows all hell breaks loose at tournaments. SO LEAVE ME FEEDBACK! Sorry. That was kinda harsh. I think I should go brood some more.


	9. Discoveries and Outrage

Heather: Okay well I did get a couple of reviews and feel better. I got a real good kick in the ass from a fellow author that really put me in gear. I realized that I have to write for me and not for anyone else. Although I do love to hear what people think of my ideas. So things will be better and I have a feeling that I will be pushing out chapters a little faster from here on out. But I did have to move so don't expect any kind of miracles though. I have to write a lot in my English class so random writer's block is inevitable. But on with the story. Be ready for a shock…

Chapter 9

Discoveries and Outrage

"So how long have you beybladed?" Mika asked Rachel.

"Geez, since I like four" she replied, scratching her head.

"Man, you must know everything there is" she said, hiding the disgust in her voice quite well.

"I wouldn't go that far" Rachel replied.

"Do you think you could teach me some moves?" Mika asked, grabbing Rachel's hands.

"What are ya up to, Mika?" Chang questioned, walking up to the pair and eyeing her team mate suspiciously.

"We were just about to have a friendly little match" Rachel answered.

"Sounds better than the little production Amethyst is trying to put on" Chang replied shaking her head.

"What are you talking about?" Mika asked the white haired one.

Chang sighed. "She's trying to start karaoke or a talent show or something."

"Then I really do want to bey battle. Let's go before she spots us" Rachel stated. The three proceeded to a door and walked downstairs to Max's basement dish. Mika threw a wink to Kari, who was standing in the kitchen doorway and followed the others out.

'I guess that's my cue. Keep her good and occupied, Mika' Kari thought to herself. She looked around the room and spotted who she was searching for.

Ray was sitting in a chair just watching the other teens enjoying themselves. Even Kai wasn't moping around. He was talking to Haley about something. 'Probably the new tournament' he thought.

"What's with the sad look?" Kari asked, staring at the group in front of her while she stood to Ray's left. "It's a party. You should be having a good time."

"Yeah" he sighed.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Like you really care." 'Come on, Ray, that was rude' he scolded himself. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to bother anybody with my problems."

"If it bothered me, I wouldn't have asked" she replied smirking at him. "Come on. You can tell me outside so you don't have to tell the world. Besides…I don't want to get caught in Amethyst's plotting."

The two walked outside and sat down in the patio chairs.

"So what's the big deal with you?" Kari asked.

"It's me and Rachel. I'm sure you've been told that we're supposed to be dating."

She threw him a questioning glance. " 'Supposed to'? Are you trying to say that you really aren't?"

"I don't know anymore. We just seem so distant from one another. One minute we'll be fine and then the next…" Ray leaned his head over. "I don't know why I'm bothering you with this."

Kari got up and sat beside the Chinese teen. "I heard that it's better to just let stuff out than to let it eat away at you. Might as well let it out while you got someone to listen."

"So this is where you've been hiding!" Tyson shouted.

Rachel looked up from her match to see her brother bounding down the stairs. "Why can't you talk at a normal volume level. Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate."

"Let me fight, too. The singing up there is horrible."

"Has Haley started singing" Chang asked.

"It's not her. Heather thought it'd be funny if she started singing opera" the bluenette replied.

"That's all very interesting, but….I'M TRYING TO WIN A MATCH HERE!" Rachel screamed.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure everything isn't what it seems" Kari said, gently rubbing circles on Ray's back. She was actually starting to feel genuinely sorry for the boy.

"I don't know what to do about it. I mean, I don't want her to hate me forever…" Ray said, looking up at her.

"You said you haven't even talked to her about anything. Maybe you should just tell her how you feel. I mean it's obvious that things aren't like they used to be between you two."

"I don't know…"

She turned Ray's face to look at her and then…

Rachel stared in shock. She stood with her mouth and eyes wide open, trying to fully grasp the sight before her.

"Sis, I didn't mean to ruin your match. I just wanted…" Tyson noticed the blank stare and turned to see Ray kissing Kari. "Oh no…uh, Rachel, maybe you should go inside to keep your calm" he said standing front of her, trying to push her inside the house.

Her breathing started getting faster and faster. Ray broke free from the kiss, seeing Rachel and Tyson in front of him. 'Oh god no!' "Rachel! I can explain…"

"YOU BITCH!" Rachel lunged and tackled Kari to the ground.

The shouting got everyone's attention and the whole group ran outside to see Rachel sitting on Kari's stomach, wailing her fists into Kari's face as Kari tried to block the attacks. Tyson grabbed for his sister only to get the wind knocked out of him by a swift punch to his gut.

"I swear to god, I'll kill you, you bitch!" she shouted, continuing her attack.

Ray reached for Rachel's arm, and got a fist in his face. He keeled over and grabbed his now broken nose.

"Don't you come one step near me, you cheating piece of shit!"

The remaining members of the two teams were shouting at Rachel to stop but no one dared to move in. Kari was now bleeding from her nose and her lip and her eyes were swelling shut.

"Take it easy, psycho! Get off me!" Kari shouted.

Rachel was grabbed around her waist and was lifted up off of the badly beaten girl. "Let go of me!"

"You're going to kill her!" Kai shouted.

"Good!" She struggled, kicking her legs and flailing her arms. She kicked Kai in the shin and he dropped her. She turned to face him and then…

"You punched me?" Rachel screamed, holding her cheek, getting herself up from the ground.

Kari had already ran into the house and locked herself in the kitchen with Heather, who was trying to stop all her bleeding.

"Yeah, and…" he said menacingly.

Her eyes started to water up. She tried to control her breathing, but it wasn't doing her any good. She took a glance at Ray, who was still holding his nose. "I wanna go home" she whimpered, trying to suppress the tears.

"Alright" Kai replied solemnly.

They began to walk into the house when they heard "Rachel?"

She turned and saw Ray standing up.

"Please, let me explain" he pleaded, walking towards them.

"Dude, don't take another step towards her" Tyson said, blocking his path.

"Come on, Ty. You're my friend."

"Can't do it. She's my sister. I have to protect her" he stated. "Go ahead and leave, Rach."

She nodded towards her little brother. "Sorry, Ty."

"Don't worry about it. That hit was nothing compared to the headlocks" he laughed.

She left the Max's house with Kai. They walked down the street in silence. When they had finally made it back to the mansion, Rachel locked herself in her bedroom.

Kai stared at her door but knew she wouldn't talk to him at least until the morning. Maybe not even then. He didn't know what kind of effect the original plan would have had on her but he never thought she would have been on the verge of killing someone. He shook his head at the thought. 'I'm just glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that.' Kai walked into his bedroom and turned on his computer.

"I need to find out exactly what happened." He logged onto the internet and saw that his teammates were online. "If I ask one of them for Kari's phone number, they'll start asking questions." He got on to the BBA website and knew how to avoid the questions. Kai began to hack into the BBA registry when the phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw Kenny's number.

"Yeah right" he scoffed. He let the phone ring until it finally stopped. He scanned through the names on his monitor and finally came across Kari's. He started working his way through firewalls when the phone rang again.

"Determined little bastard." At last, he got her number and wrote it down. He turned his computer back off and walked back to Rachel's door. He knocked but got no response. "Are you ok in there?" he asked.

The phone rang again. Kai was furious now and ran in his room to pick up the phone. He heard another phone click, though.

"Rachel? It's Ray."

Kai could feel his blood boiling.

"Stop calling."

"Come on, Rach. Here me out" Ray pleaded. The phone clicked again.

Rachel had hung up. Kai put his phone back down. He had to get her to talk. God only knew what sitting in a room by herself would do to her. He walked to her door and turned the knob. It was still locked. He grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a credit card. In a matter of seconds, the door was unlocked. He pushed the door open and saw Rachel sitting on the edge of the bed, with a blank stare.

Her head was hung slightly. She heard the click of the door opening but didn't move an inch. "Go" she said almost inaudibly.

"You can't just lock yourself up" he stated, walking in to stand in front of her. "You're going to drive yourself crazy."

She moved her eyes from the floor to Kai's face. She looked at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the floor. "You don't know how I feel. You don't know what it's like to…"

Kai let out a sigh. He sat down beside her. "That may be true, but doing this to yourself isn't going to make the situation any easier to get over."

She snapped her head. "And what would you suggest! I just act like the whole thing never happened!" she growled.

"No" he yelled back. "But you can't let this ruin your whole life!"

They glared at each other for a moment before Rachel lowered her head to the floor. "Sorry, Kai. I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

"Well" he said, standing back up, "go ahead if you have to. I won't take it personally."

"I want to know, though" she began.

"What?"

"Did you know? We're you covering for him?"

The question caught him off guard. "I can't believe you would even think I would keep that kind of information from you if I knew." He squatted down in front of her and lifted her face so she was looking at him. "If I would have known before tonight, _I_ would have beat the shit out of him."

Rachel gave a half-hearted smile. "Thanks. I guess we should start getting ready for that tournament you were telling me about."

"Come on. We'll get on my computer and get some background on the whole thing."

The Next Morning

The Bladebreakers were already in the park getting ready for their practice. Kenny was setting up Dizzi while Max and Tyson were already having a practice match.

Rachel and Kai walked up and saw the match already in action.

Ray spotted them and started to walk up to them.

Rachel held up her hand to stop him. "If you value being able to use all of your body parts, you'll stop where you are. We have a tournament to get ready for and I will talk to you when I'm ready."

"But.." he began, but got a hate-filled glare in return. "Alright."

"Good. Now, everyone listen up. We leave in a week and we have a lot of work to do if we plan on winning" Rachel stated, hands on hips.

Kai took his turn to talk. "We need new strategies and new attacks. So, me and Rachel aren't going to put up with any whining or slacking off" he stated, eye-balling Tyson.

"Why am I the one everyone always looks at?"

"I thought he just said no whining" Rachel yelled at her brother. "So, Chief, did you start working on what I asked you about?"

"As a matter of fact" he began, opening up his laptop, "I have got stuff for Max, Ray, and Kai so far."

"Tell us what you got" Max said, trying to look at the screen.

"Well, for you, Max, I've figured out a way to optimize your defense to give an opening for attacks for most bladers. Ray, I'll need to adjust your blade to give you more speed and power. And Kai, I've figured out a new attack called 'Blazing Inferno' that will give your opponents no place to hide."

"Nothing yet for me and Ty?" Rachel asked.

"Not yet, but I'm working hard on it."

"Just go ahead and get the others updated. Tyson and I will just practice our skills until you're ready" she replied.

"You heard the lady" Max said. "Let's get to business."

The days passed quickly, each team member pushing themselves to get their moves perfected. Every other day, Rachel would try out her Shock Wave technique. She could feel a kind of power flowing through her veins that would allow her to use her new attack but she couldn't seem to tap into that power. Finally, it was the day before the Bladebreakers were supposed to leave for the Sunrise Tournament.

"I guess…" Rachel said slowly, staring into the sky, "I guess I can't put it off any more." She walked out of the front gate and headed down the street. She put her hands in the pockets of her black wind pants. She watched her feet as she walked down the busy sidewalk until she arrived at her destination. She looked at the door before she just swallowed her pride and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" she heard Kenny shout from inside. He threw the door open quickly and looked at the brown-haired girl in shock. "Rachel? What are you doing here?"

"I….uh….I just wanted…(sigh)…Is Ray here?"

"Oh…uh, yeah…Do you want to come in?"

"NO!…I mean, that's alright. I'll just be waiting on the steps, if that's ok?"

"Sure. I'll go get him right now."

Rachel turned around to face the street. She let out another small sigh before taking up residence on Kenny's porch steps. She put her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands as she waited.

"Uh…hey" Ray said cautiously, stepping onto the front porch.

"Hey" Rachel responded quietly. She turned to look at him and quickly turned back around. "So…I guess now's as good a time as ever to talk about…the whole…uh…situation."

"You're not going to punch me again are you?" He said as a joke.

"I'm not laughing" she glared.

"Sorry."

Rachel couldn't get herself to look at Ray. The hurt and anger were still burning deep inside. "I came over here to give you a chance to explain yourself" she stated.

"Well…I guess I should tell you everything. This is what I've wanted to do all week, right?"

They both sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Each knew that as soon as the whole event was brought back to life, things would be forever changed. Their trust, their understanding…their relationship.

"I know that we've both been finding it hard to keep our relationship together. Things just aren't what they used to be. Neither of us would seem to enjoy just being in the same room with each other" Ray said.

"That's not tru…" Rachel cried out, looking up at him before getting cut off.

"Don't kid yourself. We were constantly arguing, you saying I couldn't trust you, me saying we never spent enough time together and worrying. I was having trouble accepting that our relationship was falling apart. I mean, we seemed to be so in love with each other that the time we spent apart or fighting would drive me insane."

"Then why didn't you just tell me!" she yelled at him. Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. "Didn't you think that I deserved to know! If you thought there was something wrong, why couldn't you just fill me in instead of acting all secretive about it!"

"Don't cry" he said, brushing the hair out of her face. She pushed his hand away. "Do you honestly think this is the way I wanted things to be?" Ray looked at the concrete in front of him. "I would give anything to get back to the way things were."

Rachel stared angrily in the other direction. "You still haven't even begun to explain your actions at the damn party. Now explain before I just get up and leave this instance" she growled.

"I just thought I should lead you in to…"

"Now, Ray!" she screamed.

"Ok. You had just walked off with Chang and that other girl from the Tri-Elements. I was sitting down and started to think about everything that was going on for the hundreth time that day…"

"Yes. Thinking has been seeming to get you into a lot of messes lately."

"That was a low blow. I thought you wanted to hear my side" he said in an upset tone.

"Continue…"

"That's when Kari walked up to me and tried to cheer me up. She wanted me to open up to her but I felt weird spilling my guts to practically a stranger in the middle of a party. So we decided to talk outside where it was quiet. She let me get everything off my chest. It was nice to finally have someone listen to all the things that I didn't think I could say. I was scared that she would tell you all that stuff and you might take it the wrong way, but she just listened"

Rachel was having trouble taking all of it in. 'He didn't think he could talk to me? He could tell everything to some random person but not me? What could I have done to have blown our trust' she questioned herself. These thoughts kept running circles in her mind before she finally spoke up. "Why couldn't you tell me? What did I do that was so wrong that I broke our trust?"

"Rachel…" he began, feeling horrible. He knew he had ripped her heart out. Ray envisioned himself pulling her heart right out of her chest and stomping it into the ground, grinding it into the earth. "You didn't do anything. I was just scared. Scared that I would say the wrong thing and everything would be lost."

"You managed that one fine without saying a word" she replied, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.

"I know…It was just weird that I could be so open with someone. It was like we used to be. I could tell you anything and we always stayed close. I wanted that back. I _needed_ that back. While I was telling her everything that was in my heart, I could've sworn that it was you that I was telling it to. And then, without me knowing, we had both turned to look at each other when…well, you know the rest of the story."

Rachel shot up to the standing position. "And you expect me to believe that you were so delusional that you thought it was me! How stupid do you think I am, Raymond!"

He winced at the sound of his full name. "I don't think you're stupid. I thought you would understand. I was being naïve and I let someone get the better of me. I know I screwed up and I regret ever during anything near that to hurt you!"

"Would you have told me" she questioned quietly.

"What? I don't understand."

"If I hadn't have walked in on….on you, would you have told me?"

"I…I…" Ray stuttered.

"Well?"

"I honestly don't know" he replied, lowering his head.

"I guess that's it then…" she said, walking towards the street.

"Rachel! Wait, please! I'm really sorry about everything. It was a stupid mistake and I wish it never happened!" He shouted, running after her.

"Me, too" she whispered.

He had caught up to her and grabbed her wrist. Rachel stopped but refused to look at him. "I…I know that I've ruined everything we were ever going to have as a relationship, but you have to believe me when I say I still want you to be a part of my life…"

She snatched her arm out of his grip. She turned around and at last looked him in the eyes. Tears flowed down her cheeks without regard. "You hurt me so bad. I would never be able to trust you if we went into a serious relationship."

"I know" he said, distraught. "But if I can regain your trust as a friend, maybe there's a chance it could grow back into…"

Rachel put her a finger up to his lips to stop him. "Let's just take it one step at a time. It may take a while, but I want to build back at least our friendship, too. We were always close…and maybe…after a LOT of venting…we can get close to being back to the way things were."

"I want that more than anything."

"Well, we all need to get some rest. I'll see you at the airport."


	10. Arrival of Rivals

Heather: I told you guys I would be updating faster. But it still kinda hard because I already wrote the chapters that I really got into. Anyways, continue with your reading to see what new insanities have escaped my mind to be typed.

Chapter 10

Arrival of Rivals

"Aw Man!"

"What's your problem?" Rachel questioned, pulling her luggage behind her.

"I hate having to figure out the rooms!" Tyson shouted.

"Why don't we wait to complain until we figure out how many rooms there are" Ray said, taking the lead.

"Yeah" Rachel agreed, smacking her brother in the back of the head.

"Oww…" he whined, rubbing the injury.

Ray walked up to the counter and received a piece of paper and key cards. He returned to the group and told them what was going on. "We got a suite with three rooms and Mr. Dickenson's already grouped us together. Looks like Kai and Kenny, me and Max, and then Tyson and Rachel."

"Damn it!" she shouted.

"What is it?" Kai said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Grrr… Just because Tyson's my brother shouldn't mean we have to be around each other constantly."

"I know!" Tyson added. "It's not like we're joined at the hip!"

"Well, let's just stick with them for now and we can change later if we need to" Ray said walking towards the elevator.

"Nice place" Rachel replied flatly, gapping at the sight before her.

There was a gathering room with three beige sofas, a wooden table with chairs, a big TV, and it led to all four bedrooms.

"Four!" Rachel shrieked. "I call dibs on the extra room!" she yelled, jumping up and down with her hand in the air.

"Sorry, but that's my room."

Rachel turned to glare at the speaker but sunk her head low, seeing Mr. Dickenson.

"All I wanted was to finally have a room to myself" she whined.

"You think you're the only one that wants a private room?" Kai said, crossing his arms.

"ARG!" she yelled, shoving Kai from his spot. "Just leave me alone!" She threw her luggage in a room and left the hotel room in a blaze of fury.

"I didn't know she could have such a big mood swing" Max said, staring at the door.

Tyson glared at Ray.

"Hey! It wasn't me. We talked everything out before we left and are on speaking terms again" Ray stated, holding his hands up in his defense. "Besides…Kai was the one that got her so upset."

"Hmph." Kai walked into the empty room beside Rachel's and closed the door.

"Man" Tyson started. "Not even ten minutes and _two_ people from our team have walked off."

"I swear. I don't know why I hang around with those guys sometimes" Rachel said quietly to herself. She stuffed her hands into her pockets as she wandered down the streets of the city.

She really didn't know where she was going but continued on her way. She came across a nicely decorated sign of a fence and decided to check it out. "Royal Botanical Gardens…why not." She entered the park and took in the beautiful scenery that surrounded her. The wonderful aromas danced around her nose and she admired all of the flowers and sculptures known in the common world as hedges. 'This is all beautiful, but there's got to be other stuff to do in this town' she thought to herself.

She exited the garden and began with her walking once again. She took in a deep breath and smelled the salt of the water. 'Must be near the harbors.' Other tourists sped past her, some shoving Rachel out of the way in their quest for faster arrivals. "Hey!" she shouted at one of the rude passerby. "What's the big idea!"

"The Sydney Opera House. It's just up ahead!" they replied quickly. They then continued on their way, not giving a second glance to her.

"Jackass" she said quietly. "Oh well, I guess it's something else to waste time."

"What are you doing here?" Rachel spat, standing off in front of the Sydney Opera House.

"Last I checked, this was a public spot. You can't try to kill me out here unless you want to get arrested" Kari glared.

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me." She walked towards the water and sat on a bench. She motioned for Kari to join her. "Ray explained everything."

Kari looked at the brown-haired girl suspiciously before finally joining her. "And…"

"We went ahead and broke up. I realized we didn't understand each other like we thought we did" she stated, staring into the blue water.

"Oh."

Rachel quickly snapped her head to look at her and glared. "Don't misunderstand. I'm still pissed about the whole situation, but…" she shook her head, "I guess I should be somewhat thankful."

"I don't get you" Kari said, standing up to look at the girl. "Why are you thankful? I mean, I would think you'd want to rip my head off and kick it around like a soccer ball. What are you up to?" she asked.

"Sit back down. You're drawing attention." She grabbed Kari's wrist and pulled her back down. "Me and Ray hadn't been on the best of terms lately. We were always awkward around each other and every little thing he did seemed to annoy me. I never told him about it though. It was like the feelings I had around the time of the Caribbean Tournament had completely changed."

"Why are you telling _me_ this?" Kari asked, staring at her feet.

"I figured you would understand or at least listen since you like him so much."

"What do you …"

Rachel put her hand up. "Don't try to kid yourself. You think you're team is the only one that knows? That kiss may have been accidental, but it wouldn't have even happened if there wasn't some feeling behind it. I'm not stupid."

Kari stared at her, shocked. "But you're not mad" she scoffed at her. "I REALLY don't get you."

"You ended what I didn't have the guts to do myself. Being aggravated at you seems to give me more courage. Funny friendship we're building, huh?" Rachel laughed.

"Friendship? Yeah" she replied, looking up at the sky. "I guess so. I gotta say, though. You gotta mean left hook."

"Yeah. I gotta get Tyson to show you some of his battle wounds. Ray would actually be better now, though. I almost broke his nose that night."

"Guess I got off easy."

Back At The Hotel

Tyson was lying on the bed, grumbling about having nothing to do. Suddenly, a pillow came slamming down on his face. He quickly grabbed the object of annoyance and shot up.

"What's the big idea!" he shouted.

"If you're so bored, get up and do something" Ray replied, looking out the glass door. "We in a different country for crying out loud."

"You're right!" Tyson jumped up from the bed and struck a superhero pose. "There's so many foods I haven't tried yet!"

"Oh brother…" Max sighed, placing his hand over his face.

"Actually, I'm the sister" Rachel said as she walked through the door. Kari followed in behind her. All of the boys tensed up, especially Ray.

"What is she doing here!" Tyson shouted, tossing a hateful look towards the girl.

"Uhhh…Rach? What's going on?" Ray asked.

Rachel casually continued her way into the room and sat herself on the end of her bed. "Be nice, boys. Everything's alright."

"ALRIGHT! How can everything be alright! She's the one that caused all…"

"Maybe I should just go" Kari said, cutting Tyson off.

"Don't bother listening Tyson" she replied. She threw a pillow at her younger brother's head. "Why don't you learn some manners? I said everything was alright."

"Jerk" Tyson replied under his breath.

"So…what's with the sudden change?" Max asked.

"We talked and figured that it would waste too much energy being pissed at each other so we just decided to forget about everything and be friends."

"Just like that?"

"Well…it took a little while before we worked it all out" Kari stated.

"I still don't know if we should trust her" Tyson added, crossing his arms.

"I think if Rach feels good enough to trust her, we should be able to, too. After all, she had it harder than us so I think it should say something."

"Thanks, Maxie" Rachel said happily.

"Whatever will get things closer to being normal" Ray commented. He still wasn't too sure what to think about Kari being in the room. Rachel and himself had, indeed, worked out their problems, but that didn't make any of it any more comfortable.

"Well, now that that's over and done with, I think we should get ready for the tournament" Rachel stated.

"Yeah. I should probably check to see what my team's up to anyways" Kari said, walking towards the door.

"Don't be a stranger. I promise I'm not gonna try and kill ya next time I see ya" Rachel joked.

"Yeah" Kari laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

Outside the Hotel

"What have you found out about the match-ups" Kai questioned the team's resident computer whiz.

Kenny placed his laptop on the bench and stood. "We will be facing the All-Stars tomorrow. It will only be two matches. The semi-finals with have three and the finals will be four. I'm not too sure who the All-Stars will have blading bit I think it would be a safe bet to say that Michael will at least be one of them."

"If they're going to have a captain fight, it would be a smart idea to have one of our captains fight, too" Max stated.

"Rachel can handle it" Kai said flatly, propping himself against a nearby tree.

"Fine with me if it's fine with you guys" she replied.

All of the boys shook their heads together. Agreeing with her was easier than having to argue with her.

"I want to blade, too" Tyson whined.

"Don't start" Rachel said, glaring at her younger brother. "If you want to blade so bad, you're going to have to take it up with the rest of the team. I'm going to go practice for my match. Come on, anti-social" she said, motioning for Kai to follow her.

"So can I fight?" Tyson asked again, looking at his teammates.

"I guess so" Ray said, watching Kai and Rachel walk off.

Max noticed his line of sight and walked over to the teen. "Hey…don't worry about it. You and her may have broke up but she wouldn't do something to upset you. Besides, what could she see in Kai and not in you?"

"You're right" Ray said, returning to his normal composure. "We should get to practicing, too. We gotta make sure that Tyson will get us into the next round so I get a chance to fight this tournament."

Heather: So there you go. Another chapter down. Isn't it sweet how everyone's starting to get along? Yeah right. You all should know that things can't just stay hunky-doory. So what evilness am I planning. You will have to wait and see! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! What? I said I was evil…


	11. Familiar Faces

Heather: Ok, ok. So I got back in the bad habit of not updating again. I'm having a lot of problems like….oh let's just say…. MY CAR ALMOST FG EXPLODING ON ME! That and the bullshit known as my school dropping how much my freaking loan is supposed to pay, raising my tuition. So I haven't exactly been peachy. But to the story. I have everything outlined and about three chapters already done but I still get stuck on some chapters. So I do apologize. Just bare with me. I promise all the waiting will be well worth it. And I'm already thinking of my…uh….threequal? That's just a word I made up, but you all understand.

And a side note for this chapter……..I'm getting kind of tired of writing the bey-battle sections so I'm gonna skip over a bunch of it. If you have a problem with it….well……….just deal with it. I am the authoress after all. But if it really bothers you, just drop a review and I'll try to appease as much as I can. Oh, and another thing. I have the Tri-Elements facing the Saint Shields but for the purpose of my story, the Bladebreakers haven't met them yet. But on with the fic!

Chapter 11

Familiar Faces

" That has got to be one of the quickest played matches I have ever seen in such a high-ranked competition" A.J. Topper announced.

"I have to agree" Brad added. "The Majestics have really stepped up their game and team skills from the last time we saw them in action."

Johnny scoffed at the comment. "How do these amateurs even get invited to tournaments?"

"We can't expect everyone to be at our level of skill" Robert replied.

"I thought we'd have at least a little competition for this being a championship battle" Johnny argued.

"Well" Oliver began, jumping into the competition. "We'll be up against the Bladebreakers in the next round. That should be an interesting match up."

"That is if they manage to get into the next round" Johnny joked.

"Hey, they may be facing the All-Stars, but they have Rachel and Tyson fighting the first round. I'm pretty sure they make it pretty easy" Enrique said. "Rachel's one hot fighter… I.I..I mean good blader…I mean.."

"Why don't you just stop while you're behind" Johnny snorted at his teammate.

"If you're so in love with the girl, I find no reason why we can't take a glance at their fight" Robert stated.

"Let's go!"

"Tyson! Watch what you're doing!" Rachel yelled at her younger brother.

Emily was giving the blue-haired boy a beating and was showing no sign s of letting down on her attacks.

"Come on! We trained for this! Now get your butt in gear!"

"Quit yelling at me!" he shouted back to his sister.

His white blade shot off in the opposite direction of Emily's blade. "Gotta find some way…" He glanced around the dish and realized that Emily's Tri-gator was taking the same route around the dish over and over again. He waited for the right moment and shot off towards the lip of the dish. His Dragoon shot into the air.

"What's he doing!" Ray asked in shock.

"He shouldn't be trying new moves in a tournament!" Kenny squeaked.

"I swear! He's such an idiot!" Rachel shrieked, ruffling her hair in frustration.

"He may be an idiot, but he actually has a plan this time" Kai broke in.

"What are you talk…"

Rachel saw Kai point to Tyson's blade as it crashed down onto Tri-gator that had just passed under.

"How did he…"

"YEAH!" Tyson shouted in enjoyment. He was jumping up and down, basking in the praise from his 'fans'. "I did it! Ha! My plan actually worked!"

"You actually had a plan!" Rachel questioned, jumping up to meet her brother.

"Of course I did. I always have a plan" he stated proudly.

"Yeah right. You don't even listen to the strategies during practice" Ray joked to his friend.

"Exactly" Kai said, walking up angrily. "If you would have actually listened at the meeting before the match you would have heard the strategy we had already made up instead of risking our chances on some half-thought plan."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Tyson argued in protest. "I won the match didn't I?"

"Whatever" Rachel said, shoving him out of the way. "Let me show you how fast you can win a match if you actually listen during a meeting."

"You don't honestly think I'm going to let you try to beat me that easy, do you" Michael said with a smirk, walking up the dish to meet Rachel.

"Aww… Come on, Mikey. I'm co-captain. There's no way on earth I'm gonna let my team down, especially not in the first round of competition."

"Well, I'm a captain, too. And I'm not a push-over. If you really want to win that badly, you're going to have to work for it."

"If that's the way you want it" she replied, lifting her launcher, ready to start the match.

"Come on, Michael. We need this win to go into a tie breaker" Judy said to the red-head.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya" he retorted. "I'm ready when you are."

"Don't forget the plan, Rach!" Ray yelled out.

"I know what I'm doing" she fired back. "I'm not worried about it and none of you should be either."

"Alright! Let's get this started!" Jazzman announced in an excited tone. "3...2...1... Let It Rip!"

The blades sped around the dish furiously. It looked like Michael was just chasing around Rachel's blade. "Come on, now. I thought you were going to beat me in no time. So why do I feel like we're just playing cat and mouse?"

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Rachel said with a sly grin.

"Emily" Judy said, looking at the team's computer wiz, "Is there any change with her blade's power?"

Emily typed away frantically on her laptop. "There's no way!"

"What is it?" Judy questioned.

"Michael!" she shouted. "Put your blade in gear! She's gathering more power than I've ever seen!"

"What?" Michael said in shock. He returned his stare to the girl's blade and then it disappeared. "What the heck!"

"Hmmm…It seems you're a little confused, Mikey. I thought you said you were ready…" Rachel smirked.

"There's no way that your blade can just disappear!" He shouted in anger.

"Who said it disappeared?" Suddenly, Rachel's blade came back into view right behind Michael's blade. "Time to end it, Redler."

" And with that, Michael's Trygal is out of the dish and the All-Stars are out of the tournament" A.J. yelled through the speakers.

"I can't believe it!" Michael yelled as he fell to his knees. He slammed his fist on the ground a couple of times and kept saying the same thing over and over again in a whisper.

"Hey…" Rachel said, walking up to the red-head. She put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not that bad. I mean…you're team can still go to the world championships."

"That's right" Tyson said, walking up along with the rest of the Bladebreakers. "And now you know what you guys have to practice on."

"Thanks guys, but I really wish we would have gotten the chance to go further in this thing, you know?"

Michael got up and walked over to his own team.

"He seemed really upset" Max said as he watched the All-Stars walk off.

"Yeah, well, there's not much we can do about it now. I mean, we wanted to advance too and only one team was going to make it" Rachel replied.

"Hey, the other matches should still be going on. You guys want to check any of them out?" Ray said, trying to change the subject.

"We need to watch the Demolition Boys" Kai said flatly.

"They're on the other end of the arena. So if you wish to watch them, you better hurry."

"Huh?" Tyson spun around to meet eyes with the large, purple-haired teen. "What do you guys want?" he asked suspiciously.

"We just came to watch the match, but we're obviously a little late" Oliver said, giving a smile to the team.

"Yeah," Enrique said, jumping in front and grabbing Rachel's hands. "Took 'em out that quick, huh? That's amazing!"

"Yeeeaaah…" Rachel replied, giving him an odd look and snatching her hands back.

Ray glared at the blonde boy angrily but knew there was nothing he could do. Rachel wasn't his any more so he had to just stand back and take it.

"Well…I guess we're in a hurry, then. If we want to catch the other match, I mean. We'll catch up with you guys later…somehow, I'm sure" she stated in a somewhat annoyed tone. "Let's go guys."

"Yeah, let's run" Max said, running in front with Tyson.

"Hey guys" Rachel said to the girls that were approaching. "What's with the long faces?"

"We lost" Haley said solemnly, not making eye contact with the other female.

"You lost?" Max asked in shock. "But I haven't even heard of the team you were supposed to be up against."

"That's what we were thinking" Chang said aggravated. "We got over-confident, figured we wouldn't have to worry about them since they're pretty unknown…"

"But we were wrong" Kari growled, punching the wall. "Their bit-beasts are incredible. They have more control than I ever seen from any bladers…even you guys."

"That's impossible" Tyson shouted. "How can a bunch of newbies just take you guys out! It doesn't make any sense!"

"Calm down" Rachel said, trying to settle down her brother.

"If you have to face them…well, let's just say it's not going to be a breeze" Haley stated flatly.

"Are ya'll going to the next round" Amethyst asked in hopes of changing the subject.

"Yeah" Ray replied. "We're supposed to be facing the Majestics next."

"Well, if ya'll want some help with training or to practice with some other people, just give us a holler. We're gonna go ahead and stay to finish watching the rest of the tournament" Haley told the team in front of her.

"That sounds like a great idea. It's better to practice against players whose moves we don't already know" Kenny added in.

"We need to hurry if we're gonna catch the Demolition Boys match" Rachel stated to gain the attention of her team.

"Let's go then" Tyson said, jogging off down the hall.

"We're just gonna go for today. Maybe we'll catch up with you guys later" Kari said.

The rest of the Bladebreakers set off to catch up Tyson. They managed to get into the arena as the battle was just starting between Gary and Ian.

"This is quite a match up we have coming be blade fans" the announcer said through the loudspeaker. "We have the towering Gary from the White Tigers against the undersized Ian from the Demolition Boys."

The two squared off and readied themselves for the match. Both blades flew into the dish as the players sized each other up.

"What is that?" Kenny asked, looking curiously at the small blader on the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Ray questioned.

"That blade. It's not his usual one. It looks like its supposed to be adapted for something. Dizzi, can you zoom in on it?"

"That's why I'm here" the bit-beast rang out energetically. "It looks like there's some kind of holding chamber in the center of his bit. Like it's supposed to be filled with something but it's not."

"Why do I get the feeling that Boris is up to no good again?" Ray asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Because he's always up to no good" Rachel answered anyway.

"I can't believe it!" the announcer shouted. "I didn't even see the two launch and Gary's blade is smoldering in the wall, obviously out of the dish!"

The fans stared in shock. No one in the crowd had seen what happened either.

"Well, I guess the first round goes to the Demolition Boys" the referee called.

Ian smiled smugly and grabbed his beyblade from the dish. Boris looked up from his young protégé to glance up in the stands were the Bladebreakers were watching. He then walked over to Tala and began to whisper in his ear.

"What do you think is going on?" Max asked to anyone that was listening.

Tyson shook his head, still staring in amazement of what he had just witnessed.

Then, while Boris was still talking, Tala looked up at the group and gave an evil grin. He then walked up the dish to meet up against Lee.

"It looks like we'll be having the two team captains facing each other in the next match. Let's hope this one lasts a little bit longer!"

The two launched their blades and began with their attacks. But Rachel wasn't concentrating on what was going on in the dish. She was too busy glaring at Boris, trying to figure out what was going on in that sadistic mind of his.

Boris continued with his little game of acting like he was watching the matches but catching glances at Rachel. Apparently, she wasn't the only one noticing this fact.

"Hey. Is it just me or does it seem like Boris isn't really interested in how the Demolition Boys are doing?" Ray asked.

"So you caught on to that, too?" Rachel questioned.

"Who is he looking at? I mean, it looks like he keeps staring at us" Max stated.

"I don't know, but he's smirking and that is never a good thing" Kai added.

Rachel continued glaring at Boris. What could be more important than the matches that were going on right in front of him?

"Do you think he's up to something?" Rachel said, not taking her gaze off of him.

She got her answer. Boris looked directly at the Bladebreakers and pointed his index finger at them with a grin. He then pointed at himself and mouthed the word 'mine'.

Rachel backed up in shock.

"Ok. That has got to be one of the creepiest things that I've ever seen at a tournament" Tyson stated, with a look of disgust on his face.

"I wonder what that was all about" Ray said curiously.

'What are you up to?' Kai thought as he leaned against the guard rail.

Heather: So what could Boris be up to? Why would he want any of the Bladebreakers? Why do I keep asking these dumbass questions? Find out in the next installment of my story! CONTINUE READING! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	12. What's It All Mean?

Heather: Hello again, my faithful readers. So here's the next chapter. It may be kind of short, but here's some news you can actually get excited about. The next three chapters are completely done! I should post them pretty close to around the same time, but with the upcoming holiday season, I don't know how fast I'll be able to push out the chapters after. But enjoy this chapter in my twisted tale.

Chapter 12

What's It All Mean?

"Come on, Driger! Let's show 'em what all this practice has done for us!" Ray yelled at his blade.

"Yeah…Like I'm going to let you beat me that easy!" Chang shouted at the Chinese teen, gaining back ground in the dish.

"So is any of this really helping?" Haley asked, leaning above Kenny as he typed away on his computer.

"Are you kidding me!" the computer whiz almost screamed. "We've been needing training like this desperately! You have no idea how hard it is for me to come up with strategies when they already know each others exact moves."

"I think I kinda do" Haley chuckled. "We have the same problem when we have team practice. I'm just glad we could be of some use since we're not advancing."

"I still can't believe we lost" Kari grumbled. She was sitting up against a nearby bench with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Will you quit your whining?" Haley yelled angrily. "It's really getting on my nerves," she said, trying to cover her ears.

"Don't be so hard on her" Max said, trying to comfort his girlfriend. "Everyone has to handle a loss in their own way."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"This whole tournament just seems to piss me off more and more!" Chang screamed, after losing her match to Ray.

"You can't win all the time" Ray said in a joking manner. But the evil glare that she sent him was no joke. Ray backed away defensively and went to sit with his team. "Hey…Where's Rach at?"

"She's over by the railing again" Tyson said, not even looking at his sister.

"Why has she been looking at the water so much? She looks kind of upset" Ray said in a somewhat worried tone.

"Ahh…she just needs her space. It's better than her being cooped up in some hotel room with all of us. You know how she gets if she can't walk around and think" Tyson replied, getting up to stretch his arms.

"I just wish she'd open up to us a little bit more."

"Good luck with that one" Tyson laughed. "She won't ever tell me anything and she's still probably mad with you. The only other person she really talks to is…"

"Max!" they both shouted.

The chipper blonde ran over to the two. "What's up?"

"Has Rach told you anything lately…about why she keeps zoning out?" Ray asked.

"No…but now that I think about it, she acted like she wanted to tell me something last night in the room but everyone was around" he said, tapping his finger thoughtfully on his chin.

"Well then" the bluenette said, pushing his buddy in Rachel's general direction, "Go figure out what's going on!"

"Okay, okay! Take it easy!"

"Come on, Tyson" Amethyst said, bounding happily over to the bluenette. She grabbed his wrists and dragged him towards the dish.

"I think I know how to walk on my own" Tyson mocked, trying to break free from the energetic girl's grasp.

"Hurry up, Tyson. You know we don't have much time left until we face the Majestics" Kenny whined.

"I thought we had almost a whole week?" he replied, slightly confused.

"That's not that much time!" the Chief yelled. "We have to make sure that everyone knows the strategy for Oliver, Enrique, Johnny, and Robert because we don't know who they will use…not to mention Kai and Rachel haven't even decided on _our_ lineup yet. We have to be prepared for anything."

"Fine" Tyson sighed, "Let's just get this over with. I don't feel like practicing all day anyways."

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Max cautiously walked up to stand beside his female friend. He didn't say a word but just looked out at the water with her, waiting for her to be the first to speak.

"What do you want" she started, obviously annoyed at his presence.

"Nothing, nothing…Is there anything _you _want?" he asked.

"What do you mean" She asked flatly, not lifting her gaze from the water she had been staring at.

"I just thought you wanted to tell me something last night. You've been kind of out of it lately, and every time I zone out, you always try to figure out what it is that's wrong with me…I kinda thought it was my turn to return the favor."

"It's just…it's nothing." She decided to just leave her 'recruited brother' out of her problems.

"Don't be like that, Rach" Max pleaded. "You know you'll feel better if you just get whatever you're worried about off your chest. You know I won't say anything."

"It's probably not even worth worrying about" she said, waving him off.

"Well, it's not like you to be out of it over something that isn't worth worrying about. If it's making you this upset, it's more-than-likely something that the team should know about."

Rachel let out a small sigh. "You enjoy poking around in my business, don't you? I'm sure Ray put you up to this. He always worries too much about me." She rested her head in her hand on the railing.

"Can you blame him, though? Trust me, we all know you like your own space, but with a tournament going on, you're usually right in the middle of things" he said, putting his hands on the railing.

"Fine…Like I said, it's probably not worth worrying about, but I just keep thinking about yesterday at the match with the White Tigers and the Demolition boys. I can't shake off this feeling that Boris is up to something."

"That guy has always creeped me out" Max laughed. "Although it was kinda of weird how he kept watching us. Do you really think he's up to something" he asked.

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't really make me comfortable the way he didn't even care about what was going on with his team. I mean, for as amped as he was at the last championships to take over the world, he wasn't that interested in the matches."

"Hmmm…" Max stood there and contemplated what his co-captain had just stated. She was right after all. It wasn't like Boris to seem so unconcerned about Tala and Ian's actions.

"Forget I said anything" Rachel said, standing up and turning away from the water. "I'm not really feeling too great right now, I think I'm going to head back to the hotel room. Can you tell Kai to take over the practice for me?"

"Do you really hate us that much?" Max joked.

"Whatever. Go back and get to work" she replied, walking off.

XXBack at the HotelXX

"Was there really a point to practicing that long, Kai?" Tyson whined at his captain.

"For you, I think we could have gone at least another two hours" he replied, glaring at the younger boy.

"So Max," Ray began as he sat down on one of the couches, "Did you find out what is up with Rachel?"

"Dude, if she's hears you talking about her, you know she's gonna try to hurt somebody" Tyson stated while his face was still buried in one of the other couch cushions.

"She's asleep, I already checked" Max said, taking a seat in a nearby chair.

"And she'll probably stay that way if _someone_ will keep his voice down" Kai stated as he walked into his room. He closed the door behind him and left the rest of the team to their conversation.

"She's just not sure what to think about what happened yesterday at the tournament" the blonde said to the Chinese boy.

"I know where she's coming from" Kenny said, jumping into the conversation. "I stayed up late last night with Dizzi trying to figure out why the Demolition Boys might have redesigned their blades with a compartment that isn't even in use."

"Maybe they plan on putting something in it that they don't have yet" Ray said, pondering the idea further.

"That still doesn't explain why Boris kept staring at us, though, instead of watching the match. Rachel had a good point when she told me that he was really didn't seem that worry about how his team did" Max stated.

"Was it just me, or when he pointed to where we were standing, did it seem like he was pointing right at Rachel?" Kenny asked.

"Now that you mention it…do you still have that whole match recorded?" Ray asked.

"Yeah." Max and Ray gathered around Kenny and watched the scene over and over again.

"He _was_ pointing at her" Max said in almost confusion. "But why?"

But their train-of-thought was interrupted by the loud snores that were now escaping Tyson's loud mouth.

"Let's rest on it tonight, and see if we have some new ideas in the morning" Ray said, standing up and walking to his room with Max. Kenny walked into Kai and his room also, everyone leaving Tyson where he was.

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Heather: So there you have it. Another chapter down and….lets just say quite a few more to go. In the Next few chapters is where the real trouble begins so make sure to catch the next chappies! Until then…


	13. Shopping Is Of the Devil

Heather: Hey everybody! So how have things been? I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I don't really have all that much to say so I think I'll spare you from ramblings and let you get on with the story. Have Fun!

Chapter 13

Shopping Is Of the Devil

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"What the hell…" Rachel grumbled. She buried her face in her pillow as she reluctantly grabbed the digital clock beside her bed. "Hmm..guess I over slept" she said placing it down after reading 9:00 in the red lights. "How did Tyson manage to get up while I slept?" She pushed herself off of her bed and walked to the door.

"Good morning, sunshine. We came to perk you up!" Amethyst squeaked cheerfully.

"I don't really do 'perk'" Rachel replied, walking back into her room.

"Yeah, well neither do I" Chang jumped in. "But I also don't lock myself in a hotel room with a tournament going on."

"For real. It's not natural" Heather added.

"You should at least be practicing. I mean, your team is facing the Majestics in a couple of days. There's no way that you can be _that_ prepared" Haley stated.

"Fine. I'll get out of the room. Will that make all of you happy?" Rachel said, plopping herself back onto her mattress.

"Not really. We're gonna take you shopping to get you back into a social air" Amethyst declared.

Rachel's eyes went from a dulled look aimed at the ceiling to a look of pure terror. "I hate shopping. There's no way in hell…HEY! PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed.

Kari and Haley had grabbed her arms and began to drag her down the hallway.

"Let me go!" she yelled. "I said I was going to get out! What more do you want!"

"Well…" Haley began, "It's not that we don't trust you, but… we just don't trust you."

"Thanks a lot" she replied sarcastically as she gave up her struggle and let the girls drag her towards the elevator. "I always love having no choice in where I'm being dragged…literally."

"We do what we can!" Heather replied with a grin.

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"Oooo! Let's go in that store!" Amethyst shouted happily.

"You've got to be kidding me" Rachel sighed as she was pushed into the dress store.

"Calm down, will ya" Kari said, annoyed. "It's not like we're making you buy anything."

"Yeah, because there's not a chance in hell any of you would get me in any of this…crap."

"Hey!" Amethyst yelled. "I happen to like this store, thank you very much."

"Don't take it personally" Haley soothed to her teammate. "I'm sure she didn't mean it." She shot a glare at Rachel, who merely shrugged her shoulders and acted interested in a rack of clothes.

"Oh, I see. _Now_ you want to look at clothes" Heather stated mockingly.

"Whatever will get her out of trouble, I guess" Chang added.

"Hey. Ya'll wanted to go shopping, so shop for crying out loud. I could have wasted my time doing better things" Rachel remarked.

Amethyst pulled a lavender summer dress off of a rack and held it up to her, examing herself in the mirror. "Yeah. I'm sure your team loves to be around you if you're always this cranky" she laughed.

"Like I said, perky isn't really my thing. I just leave that up to Max."

"Don't drag him into to your temper tantrums" Haley defended.

"It's not a tantrum. But whatever. Can we just hurry this up? I get uncomfortable in dress shops."

"Sometimes I wonder if you're really even a girl" Chang said.

"Thanks. I needed a boost to my self-esteem" Rachel replied sarcastically.

The six girls finally left the shop and started looking for another store.

"Well, well, well. Of all the people to see walking down the streets of Sydney…"

"That voice…"Rachel whispered.

"What? What's wrong?" Kari asked, noticing that she had completely stopped walking.

Rachel slowly turned around. A look of horror crossed her face for a split second before turning to a hate-filled glare. "Boris."

"Oh, I am so glad you remember" he said smugly.

"Who's the freak with the glasses?" Amethyst asked Haley.

"Who knows" she whispered back.

"How could I forget an ugly mug like yours" Rachel stated to the older man with a fake grin.

"That hurt. And to think, I had an offer for you."

"An offer?" she scoffed. "What would you have to offer me? Especially after all the shit that went down in Russia."

"Why, an opportunity to better yourself, my dear" he said, an evil smile crossing his mouth.

That smile. Something about that smile unnerved her.

"What's he talking about?" Kari asked into her ear.

"I have no idea" Rachel replied quietly. "So what is it that you want? Though I highly doubt I'm going to buy it."

"I offer you my services. My company merely wants to run some tests and have you join the Demolition Boys."

Rachel burst into laughter. She leaned forward to hold her sides and slowly regained her composure. "You…You've got to be kidding me! Me! Join the Demolition Boys! You really have lost your mind, Boris."

"You don't understand. You are quite different from this common trash that call themselves beybladers. You have something special inside of you."

"Who are you calling trash, asshole!" Chang shouted angrily.

"Calm down" Haley said, putting a hand on the venting girl's arm. "We don't need to get in a fight in the middle of the street in a foreign country."

Chang just growled in response.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, eyeballing the corrupted Russian suspiciously.

"I mean you have a special type of DNA. This makes you an extremely powerful and dangerous competitor. We can teach you how to harness that power."

"Thanks, but no thanks. Whatever power I have, I can learn how to control it on my own. I've seen what you do to the bladers you want, and I really don't feel like becoming a mindless pawn of yours today. So if you don't mind, we'll be on our way" she stated, turning on her heel.

Boris grabbed her arm roughly. "Hear this, my dear. You may think you can do whatever you please, but we will meet again. I always get what I'm after."

"Careful, Boris" she said forcefully as she yanked her arm from his grasp. "Keep talking like that and people might start to think you're a pedophile or something. Let's go."

"So what was that all about?" Amethyst asked curiously.

"Yeah, and who was that guy? He acted like he knew you pretty well" Haley added.

"His name is Boris and he's the coach for the Demolition Boys. I'm sure you guys all heard about the stuff from the World championships last year, right?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah. There was something going on with that company Biovolt, right?" Kari asked.

"They were trying to take over the world with their own artificially created bit-beasts. Boris and another man named Voltaire were the ones in charge. What he's up to now, though, I have no idea."

"Well, it looked like he was almost desperate to get you to join his team" Heather stated.

"There's not a chance in hell I will, though."

"I guess it would be kinda weird to fight against your brother and other teammates" Amethyst said as they started walking back to the hotel.

Rachel ran in front of the group of girls and turned to face them. "You guys have to do me a huge favor. Don't tell any of the guys about this. We've had a troubled past with that jerk and I don't want to start anything up that I don't have to. So just don't say anything….especially to Kai."

"Okay, okay, okay. We won't. But what's the big deal about Kai. I mean, why single him out?" Haley asked curiously.

"Uhhh.. It's a long story and I don't really feel comfortable about explaining the whole situation. Let's just say Kai had a really hard time dealing with everything."

"If you say so" Kari replied, unsure of what to think about the events that had just passed.

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"Hey guys. I'm back" Rachel said walking into the room.

"And where have you been? You knew we had practice" Kai said angrily.

"Give it a rest" she sighed, falling onto to the couch. "The Tri-Elements took me shopping."

"You went shopping!" Max questioned in amazement.

"They dragged me out of the room. I didn't really have much of an option" she replied, burying her face in the cushions.

"You're the co-captain. If you keep slacking off I'm going to have to…"

"Have to what" she growled at Kai. "Like I said, I didn't have an option so just give it a rest. I'm going to practice harder tomorrow so just back off."

"We just got kinda worried about ya. Nobody knew where you were at, that's all" Ray said in his blue-haired captain's defense.

"Well, maybe ya'll shouldn't worry so much" she replied.

"Take it easy, sis" Tyson said.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Who's that?" Rachel asked.

Max got up from the chair he was sitting in and went to the door. "We ordered pizza. Nobody felt like going out to eat."

"Yes!" Tyson shouted, running up to Max, who was paying the delivery boy.

"Grab him guys!" Rachel yelled at Kai and Ray.

The older teens grabbed the bluenette. Tyson reached frantically for the pizza boxes. "What's the big idea!"

"We want to eat, too. We're just making sure we get some food before you inhale it all" Ray stated.

Later that Night

"Hey. Are you still awake?" Rachel whispered, gently shoving her brother.

"Ugh…what is it?" he replied groggily. "I was dreaming I was winning an ice-cream eating contest."

Rachel let out an exasaperated sigh. "I'm going out for a little jog. I should be back in an hour or so."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…do whatever you want" he said, rolling onto his other side.

Rachel slipped out of the room, noticing that Kenny and Kai's bedroom door was open. She tip-toed to the door and began to turn the knob.

"And where do you think you're going?"

She jumped at the voice and spun around. "Kai" she whispered. "You scared me."

"You didn't answer my question" he said, putting a hand on the door.

"I'm just going for a jog" she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "I figured I would train since I missed practice. I am the co-captain after all."

"At this time?"

"No time like the present…it's going to be ok" she said. She gently grabbed his arm and pulled it off the door. "I'm only going to be an hour. Don't worry. Bye."

She walked down the hall. Kai walked to the balcony and watched her as she began to jog down the road from the hotel.

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Rachel continued her walk down the sidewalk, avoiding eye contact with all the stares she was getting. 'I can't be that recognizable' she thought to herself. But sure enough, a little boy ran up to her, beyblade in hand.

"You're Rachel from the Bladebreakers, aren't you" the boy shouted, hopping up and down.

"Uhh…yeah" she replied reluctantly.

"My sister's a huge fan! Can you autograph my blade!"

"I guess…but you need to catch up with your dad" she said. She quickly signed her name and waved to the young boy as he ran off to his father.

Rachel let out a sigh and continued on down the street. A black limo passed by. She followed the vehicle with her eyes and noticed as the red brake lights lit up. She looked in wonder as the car moved in reverse and stopped beside where she was standing.

The window slowly rolled down.

"I told you we would meet again" Boris smiled out of the window.


	14. Talk About Friendly Meetings

Heather: Alright. So I'm getting really lazy with the chapter intros but my incoherent babbling isn't really why you're reading so I figure I'll just spare. So here ya go.

Chapter 14

Talk About Friendly Meetings…

"I told you we would meet again" Boris smiled out of a car window.

"Yeah, and I told you to get a new campaign because you've got to be crazy to think I would be a part of anything you're associated with" Rachel sneered.

"And now I'm telling you that I always get what I want."

Without warning, four men in black suits and ties jumped out of the car and grabbed for her. She managed to dodge one man and proceeded to kick him in his back, causing him to fall on his face. One of the other men grabbed her right arm and she took a swing with her left, giving her assailant a black eye. The two remaining men grabbed one arm each and held on to her tight. She tried to break free from their grip but to no avail.

Boris stepped out of the car and walked up to her. "See what I mean" he replied smugly, lowering himself to be at her eye level.

She narrowed her eyes and growled at him. "Maybe you should see what I mean" she yelled. She threw her right leg up as high as she could and her foot made contact with Boris' face.

He keeled over and grabbed his nose with both of his hands as blood began to drip down. "You little bitch!" he shouted. "Tie her up and put her in!"

Her two captors threw both of her hands behind her back and duct taped them together. "What? Am I not good enough for hand cuffs or at least rope?" she asked with a fake pout.

"Get in the car" one of the men growled.

"Nah… I don't think I will. I don't go with strangers and you all are pretty strange" she replied grinning.

"It wasn't a request" he said, roughly pushing her in.

She sat herself in and scooted over as Boris followed her in and closed the door.

"Where are you taking me?" Rachel spat.

"Where else?" Boris replied smugly. "Biovolt of course."

"Biovolt! But that's all the way in Russia!" she shouted.

"You are a quick one, aren't you?" he said sarcastically. "We're going to fly there on our private jet."

"Well, I hope you don't think that I'm going to go along quietly." she stated, fidgeting in her seat.

Boris put his arm over her shoulders. "I figured that much, my dear. I always come prepared."

"What the…" she began. Her vision started going blurry. She fell forward and passed out.

Boris placed the emptied needle into his coat and signaled to the driver. "To the airport."

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Max launched his blade into the dish and began his battle with Amethyst. The blades crashed into one another, neither clearly gaining an advantage.

"Hey, has anyone seen Rach today?" Kenny asked curiously. "She's supposed to practice with Haley next."

"Yeah. She said that she was going to practice twice as hard today since she missed practice yesterday" Ray commented.

"Huh? Hey, that reminds me. She didn't come back to the room last night" Tyson said.

"What!" Kai shouted angrily, grabbing Tyson by his collar.

"I just thought she came in late and left early. But now that I think about it, she usually wakes me up to tell me she's back." Tyson started to worry. He knew Rachel liked to be by herself, but she's always let someone know where she was going. And last night, she did say that she was only going to be gone for an hour or two.

"This isn't good, guys" Kenny said.

Max and Amethyst had finished their fight in a tie and had walked over to join the conversation.

"Do you think she might have went to see that creepy guy?" Amethyst asked.

"SHHH!" Heather hushed her friend.

"What creepy guy?" Kai questioned.

"Oh yeah" Haley replied to her friend. "You mean that weird, tall guy from the other day?"

"That's the one. He did say he expected to see her soon" Amethyst added.

"Who are you going on about?" Max asked.

"Oh, I don't know his name. He was tall, had purple hair and wore some funky looking goggles or glasses or something" she said, trying to recall the man.

"Boris!" the boys shouted together.

"That was it!" Amethyst replied happily. "You guys are good. How did you know?"

"Boris talked to her?" Ray asked in a panic.

"She told us not to say anything about it, but yeah, yesterday when all of us girls went out" Heather said.

"What did he want with her?" Tyson asked.

"Something about a doctor or tests, yeah, tests. Because her DNA is different or something like that" Chang stated.

"What? That doesn't make any sense" Ray said, pondering over the new information.

"We're just telling you what we heard" Haley said. "I don't know. He just seemed like a lousy recruiter. He kept wanting her to join his team. What was that name, Kari?"

"The Demolition Boys" Kai chimed in.

"Yeah, I didn't know why she would want to join a group with a team name like that."

"We need to find Mr. Dickenson" Kai stated to his team.

"What? Do you think he knows where she is?" Tyson asked hopefully.

"No. But I do. We're flying to Russia." He replied flatly, turning to head towards the hotel.

"Russia, but why?" Ray asked.

"Because he's taking her to Biovolt. I'm sure of it" he said, gritting his teeth as he stared at the sidewalk.

Ray ran up to Kai and grabbed his shoulder and turned him around harshly. "What's going on?" he practically growled.

"Ray, let him go" Max yelled.

"No! I think he knows exactly what happened to Rachel and I want to know why!"

"You're right. I do know what's going on" Kai stated, earning gasps from everyone. "And I'll tell you, but we have to leave now. Because if I know Boris, Rachel's in some serious danger."

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Rachel slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurry and the room was brightly lit. Her head was spinning. She was having trouble remembering what had happened. She was in her hotel room talking to Tyson and told him she was going to go jog for a while and then… a car?…then… she couldn't remember. She kept drawing a blank and she still couldn't see. She was lying down and it was somewhat soft.

'Maybe I blacked out when I got back to the hotel' she thought to herself.

She tried to push herself into a sitting position before noticing a feeling on her wrists. She tried to grab her left wrist, but her hand stopped halfway.

'I'm strapped down!' she screamed in her head. She frantically tried to free herself, tossing herself around. She opened her eyes again and noticed she could see a little better. There was a light right above her head and…and machines? Where the hell was she!

"Glad to see you've finally decided to wake up" a voice said from behind her head.

"Wha…Who are you?" she asked her visitor. "You have to help me. You have to get me out of here!"

"And why would I do that, my dear?"

"B…Boris! You bastard! Let me out right now!" she yelled.

"No need to get upset. You're right where I need you" he replied cooly.

'That's it' Rachel thought. She finally remembered. The car. Boris sending his men after her and stuffing her in that car. And then Boris stabbing her with something. It was some kind of drug that must have made her black out. "What the hell do you think you're going to do with me" she growled, struggling to get off of the bed.

"I'm glad you asked. You see, like I told you before, you're different. Your DNA has a special gene. This gene is especially rare. It appears only once every one thousand years."

"You know, you really have a way of making me feel special" she said still struggling.

He put a hand on her shoulder and she stopped moving. "Oh, but I'm not finished. This gene is called the Dragonose gene and it allows that person to control any bit beast at all and amplifies it's power at least a hundred fold."

"Then you should be really afraid of my power" she said with a grin.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

"Well, since you asked…"

Boris' fist slammed against her left cheek. Her head shot to the right and she could feel her cheek beginning to swell. "Now, back to what I was saying. You have yet to realize the power you possess."

"And what makes you so sure I have this 'special gene' ?" she asked.

"You obviously don't realize the massive levels that Biovolt operates on. We have been searching for this gene for years, branding the bladers that did not possess it. We went through many candidates before realizing that we skipped over an important person that should have been obvious."

"You 'branded' them? You're sick. How could you do that? Who did you do it to?" she asked angrily.

"You know them well, my dear. Of course we tested all the bladers here at Biovolt. That includes the Demolition Boys and Kai."

"Kai!" she shouted in shock. "What did you do to him?" she seethed.

"Come, now. How did you honestly think he got those tattoos on his face? We knew that he wouldn't stay loyal for too long, so we left him with a reminder of his upbringing. On his face, he would see everyday who created him."

"You didn't create him! You tried to corrupt him!"

Boris sighed. "As much as I would love to continue this conversation, we have work to do." Boris walked over to a table and picked up an empty syringe.

"And what the hell do you think you're going to do with that?" she demanded, blood trickling down from the corner of her mouth.

"Blood samples to determine the effectiveness of the gene" he replied.

He cleaned off a section of her arm with rubbing alcohol and stabbed the needle in harshly. Rachel tensed up but refused to scream. She wouldn't let Boris think that she was weak against him. He pulled the thick liquid into the syringe and removed it from her arm.

Boris proceeded to head towards the exit when Rachel yelled "You're just going to leave me here bleeding!"

"Not my job. I've got all I need for now. But don't worry. We'll have you patched up. After all, you have to test the blade."

"Like hell I'm gonna take part in any of your plans!"

"We'll see."

"Wait!" she shouted.

Boris turned around. "I'm tired of your obnoxious yelling. You're going to do as I say whether you like it or not." He turned on his heel and took his leave.

A man in his early twenties walked up to Rachel and began to clean the blood from her arm and face. "Hey" he practically whispered to her. "You better just listen to Boris. He always gets his way."

"I'm not just going to roll over and let him use me like some kind of puppet."

"You don't understand" he said as he drew a couple more blood samples. "He has ways to get what he desires and if you want to spare yourself from a lot of suffering, you'll just do what he asks." He put the samples into an incubator and bandaged up her arm.

"What do you know?" Rachel asked, pulling her head up to look at her doctor. "If you know anything that could help me get out of here, I don't know how I could thank you."

"I'm just going to say he will go pretty low when it comes to his plans." With that, he left Rachel in the room by herself.

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Heather: So how low will Boris go? What is he planning to do to Rachel? And what's the deal with these tests he has in mind? Don't you wish you could find out right now? Well, I'm not that nice. I like to have a reason to come back to read more. The answer to these questions and more in the next chappie. Until then… Laterz!


	15. Breakdown of the Bladebreakers

Hoshiko: Alrighty guys. So here it is. This is a _really _long chapter, but it's got to be one of my favorites. Haha…my best so far! My creative genius sometimes scares me…

Chapter 15

Breakdown of the Bladebreakers

The Bladebreakers were on the plane and on their way to Russia. The boys had told Mr. Dickenson of believing that Boris had kidnapped Rachel and that he was probably taking her to Biovolt. He put them on the next flight out of the country.

"So are you going to tell us what's going on, Kai" Tyson asked, leaning over the seat.

Ray, Max and Kenny turned to get in on the conversation.

"Biovolt has for years now been doing research to find a certain person."

"Certain person? For what?" Kenny asked.

"If you'd let me finish" Kai growled causing Kenny to sink back in his seat. "They were looking for the person with a special gene in their DNA that lets them control all bit-beasts. It also amplifies the powers of it."

"But you said she was in danger. If Rachel really does have this gene, what is Boris going to do to her that would put her in a lot of danger?" Ray questioned.

"For Boris to get control of the power, he has to use her blood. The more blood, the more power."

"He can't do that!" Tyson shouted. "How can he get away with something like that!"

"I think we've already seen how far Biovolt will go to gain power" Kenny stated, remembering the first world championships.

"They won't go too far, though" Kai added.

"How do you know?" Max asked.

"She's the only one that will be able to control the power, so they need to keep her in decent condition."

"There's no way she'll do what he asks" Tyson said, slumping down in his seat.

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Rachel was strapped into a wheelchair. She was pushed into a big room with a beydish. The man in the white lab coat un-strapped her and left the room. She looked around the room and saw a lone table. She walked up to it to see a launcher and a blade. She picked up the purple and yellow blade and examined the bit-chip. It appeared to be a cyborized snake but there was something odd. There was a hole in the middle of the chip filled with some kind of liquid.

"Go ahead and pick up the launcher, too" a voice rang out from an overhead speaker.

Rachel searched for the voice and realized that mirrors were completely covering only one wall. 'Must be a one way mirror' she thought to herself. "And what do you expect me to do?" she sighed, facing herself in the mirror.

"I've already told you" Boris began. "You're testing a beyblade with a sample of the gene added to augment the power it possesses."

Rachel stared past the mirror like she could actually see her purple-haired captor and began to chuckle.

"And what's so funny?" Boris asked, getting irritated.

"You still think you have some kind of control over me? You really are dumber than you look." She took the beyblade in her hand and tossed it over her shoulder carelessly. "I am _not_ going to do what you want."

"You might want to pick that blade back up."

"What? Are you going to send your goons after me again? By the way, how is your nose healing" she smirked.

All of a sudden, thousands of loaded launchers came out of the walls and aimed for her.

"Well, I always did prefer to use force over talking" Boris laughed evilly.

Without warning, the blades began to shoot at Rachel. She ran to the dish where the beyblade had landed. A couple of blades cut across her arms and legs. She dove for the dish but got sliced across her ribs. She loaded her launcher and took aim.

The power of the launch blasted Rachel back. She barely kept her ground and balance. The blade flew across the room, leaving a path of destruction. The blades were still being fired, but instead of dodging them, she was running from explosions. Remains of burning beyblade parts were dropping to the ground. Smoke started filling the room as Rachel ran for a corner. She closed her eyes and coughed until the smoke began to clear. She waved her hand in the air to try to see what kind of destruction Boris' attack had done. She stared in shock while the entire scene came into view.

All of the blades had stopped spinning. She stuck her hand out to catch the blade and dropped it as soon as it made contact. She stared at her hand. It had sliced her hand open but that wasn't why it hurt. When she touched the blade, it felt like a fireball.

Boris was laughing hysterically. "It's better than I could have imagined! And that was a small sample!" Boris looked through the window at the remnants of his be stadium. "That test gave the Demolition Boys a run for their money and she destroyed it in seconds! This is great!"

Rachel was still looking around in disbelief. 'Did I really just do that?' She turned quickly when she heard the door opening.

"Now you understand the power that's flowing inside of you." Boris gave her a chance to respond only to get a menacing glare in return. "You'll go to the medical ward and I will meet you when your next test is ready."

"No" she shouted. She tried to run after him but the pain stopped her. She grabbed her side and realized she had some serious injuries. Her shirt was covered in blood and she was finding it difficult to catch her breath. "I don't care what you do to me, but I know you can't control that gene without me. So do what you want but you're not going to get anymore tests out of me."

Boris walked up to her and narrowed his eyes.

"You don't scare me and neither do your blades."

He gave a swift punch to her ribs and she fell to the ground in pain. She grabbed her waist and rolled on the floor screaming. "Don't worry" he warned. "You may put up a fight but you will go through with the next test."

Two doctors rushed into the room with a stretcher. They picked her up from the ground and wheeled her out.

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"So do you think Rachel has this gene?" Kenny asked as they stepped off the plane.

"It would make since. It would have to be either her or Tyson" Kai replied.

"Why me?" Tyson asked worried.

"Your bit-beasts are dragon types. It makes more sense for Rachel, though, because hers is a combination bit-beast. It's two breeds of animals making it rare. It's the perfect way for a gene that is supposed to stay hidden to pass its one-of-a-kind gene into its owner.

"Let's stop talking about it. We have to bust her out of Biovolt" Ray said. This caught all of the boys attention and they ran out of the airport.

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"I don't think I'll ever get used to being tied up."

"You won't have to for long" Boris responded.

Rachel let out a slight snort. "I know you're not just going to let me go. So what are you going to do? Kill me?"

"Wrong. You see, you will be marked before your next test."

"I already told you that I'm not taking part of any more of your experiments."

"Let's just take it one step at a time."

The door opened to have two men join in. One was an old man with long grey hair and the other looked to be in his forties and slightly balding, carrying a briefcase.

"Voltaire!" Rachel shouted.

He ignored her and sent his partner to a chair beside her. He opened his briefcase to reveal needles and ink. He turned her face roughly and began to tattoo three small, blue circles on the outer edge of her eye sockets. Rachel winced but the artist just pulled the skin flat so he could continue with his task.

Voltaire walked up to Boris. "So she's the one?"

"Yes sir" Boris replied. "I'll have someone show you the footage from the first experiment when you're ready. Her next test should be underway shortly."

"So they're on their way?" Voltaire questioned.

"They are a close team, sir. And by the way she responded to the information on your grandson, I have no doubt that they should be here shortly."

"I'm done" the tattoo man stated, closing his briefcase.

"You're a real bastard, Boris" Rachel spat. "And I'll go ahead and tell you, too, Voltaire. I'm done being a part of your sick tests so you can just kiss my…"

"Inject the control device before I kill her" Boris ordered.

"Control device? What do you mean?"

"Your teammates should be arriving here shortly. Trying to help you escape, no doubt. I want you to destroy their bit-beasts. Best way to get you to obey, though, to get you under our complete control, is to attach a chip that will control the way you think."

"Well that's just peachy" she replied sarcastically. "First I get these funky tattoos and now you're going to control my thoughts?"

"It's one way to shut you up."

"Try to control me if you want, but there's no chance in hell that you'll ever get me to do anything to my team."

"Put the chip on the side of her neck now!" Boris shouted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We finally made it!" Tyson sighed, falling to his knees in the snow.

"We're not done yet, though" Max stated. "We still have to find Rachel and get her out of this creepy place."

"You think I don't know that!" Tyson shouted, hopping up and down.

"Keep it down. We don't want to draw attention" Ray stated.

"This way." Kai pointed to a side door. "We'll sneak in here and start searching the building."

"No need, grandson" Voltaire said, stepping from the door.

"Where's my sister!" Tyson demanded.

"Don't fret. She's right here." Voltaire stepped to the side and allowed Rachel to stand beside him. Her head was down and her hair was covering her face.

"Rachel!" the group shouted, but she didn't acknowledge them.

Tyson ran up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Sis, what did they do to you?"

She didn't respond so Tyson shook her.

"Hey. What's wrong with you?" He ducked down a little to see her face.

Rachel shrugged his hands from her shoulders and pushed her brother to the ground.

"What was that for!" he shouted.

She slowly lifted her head and stared past her teammates. She had a blank expression on her face.

"What did you do to her! Why does she have those markings!" Kai growled at his grandfather.

"Yeah and why doesn't she recognize us?" Ray added.

"So many questions, so little time. It seems that this girl has the power I have been searching for. All those years wasted on people like you" Voltaire stated, shaking his head at his grandson. "But we have marked her as the Dragonose carrier. She is now the property of Biovolt. Just like you. She will forever be acknowledged as an associate of ours. And for your other question.." He pushed Rachel's head to the side and moved her hair out of the way. "Amazing what a little microchip can do to a person's mind" he laughed.

"You bastard" Kai seethed. He ran towards Voltaire but Rachel jumped in the way to block his attack. "Rach, move!"

She stared blankly into his eyes like she no longer had life to her. She continued to look at him and removed a beyblade from her jacket.

"What is she doing!" Kenny screeched.

"No…" Kai whispered.

"Like I said, she is under Biovolt's control now. Your silly little friendship means nothing to her. She only does what we command her to do. She's nothing but a hollow shell. A tool for our mission to control the world!" Voltaire shouted.

Kai took a few steps back as she loaded her launcher. She lifted her blade with her bandaged hand and aimed straight for Kai.

"You can't let them control you. You're stronger than that!" he shouted at her.

"Snap out of it" Tyson yelled.

"You're a fighter, Rachel. Fight back against them!" Max yelled.

"I suggest you prepare yourself. Her blade is equipped with grams of her blood. One gram was enough to destroy a room in our building. You can use your imagination on how much damage this blade will cause."

"I can't fight my sister" Tyson said, in a state of shock. "We argue but we never really fight each other…"

"We have to."

"How can you say that, Kai! She's our teammate and our friend!" Max pleaded.

Kai turned around to face his team. His face was getting pale but the anger was still evident. "I know" he said quietly. "But if we want to help her, we have to beat that beyblade they've created. We can't let them have control of it to do what they want. Besides…" he sighed. "She would hate us if we let them control her… if we let them take over."

"He's right" Ray added. "It's the only thing we can do for her now."

"No" Tyson said. He stepped in front of his friends and was looking straight at his sister. "I won't let you guys get involved in this. She's my sister and if we have to fight her to get her back, I'll do it myself. It's a matter of family."

"Nice speech, buddy" Max said, walking up beside him, "but she's like a sister to all of us."

Kenny jumped in, too. "Max is right. We all care about her as much as you do."

Ray and Kai both turned to face Rachel, too. "And I'll be damned if you're the one to save the day again" Ray said with a grin.

"You don't seem to know what you're up against" Voltaire glared.

Rachel pulled her ripcord. She skidded a ways back but kept her balance. Her blade was spinning rapidly as she looked at the boys in front of her.

The four boys launched their blades at the same time. Each took a corner around her and kept their blades spinning in place.

"Come on, Rach! We don't want to have to do this to you!" Max shouted out.

Rachel turned her attention to him and cocked her head a little in confusion. She turned her focus back to her beyblade and went for an attack. She barely made contact with the green blade but it shot off, landing behind Max.

"There's no way someone can have that much power!" Kenny stated fearfully.

"Did you see what just happened?" Kai asked Tyson.

"Yeah, she just took Max out!" he replied.

"No" Ray jumped in. "Rachel. She looked confused. I think she might be able to understand us even though she's being controlled."

"There's a chance we can get through to her" Kai stated. "We have to keep attacking, though. Don't let up!"

Tyson made his blade go after his sisters. He called out Dragoon and prepared to do some damage.

"Now, Dragoon!" Tyson's beyblade went full-speed toward Rachel's. He crashed into her but bounced back like he had hit a spring. "Help me out here, guys!"

"You got it" Ray replied. "Driger! Let's lend Dragoon a hand." Driger moved to Dragoon's left. The two blades began to circle around one another.

"Go" Rachel faintly said. The purple blade began to glow with a blood red aura. Next, a blinding light shot out, making everyone cover their eyes.

Ray and Tyson began to lose control of their blades. Rachel made contact with her brother's blade. It blazed past her and got stuck in the trunk of a near-by tree. Ray managed to regain his balance but pulled back.

"Are you really that weak, Rachel!" Kai shouted at her.

She simply cocked her head again and stared blankly at him.

"I should have known better than to make you co-captain. You can't even keep control of yourself! I can't believe you would let yourself get captured. You're such a joke."

"Maybe you should ease up, Kai" Ray said, worried. "It looks like she's gonna take us all out."

Rachel's emotionless face began to turn into a glare mixed with pain.

"No, look" Kai replied, seeing her change in expressions. "She hears me. You hear me, don't you? You may think you're strong, but look at the mess we're all in now!"

"Who…do… you think… you are…you ass" Rachel stammered out. Her face scrunched up in anguish.

Kai let out a small laugh. "She's coming back to us" he whispered to Ray.

Ray looked up and saw that her concentration was beginning to break. "That's it! Don't let them control you."

Rachel started to move from her spot, holding her head tightly. "They can't…control me. I won't… let them." She grabbed her head tighter, trying to overcome the pain.

Voltaire saw this and pulled out a remote. "I don't think so." He pushed a button that sent an electrical shock through Rachel's body. She froze where she was and began to shake harshly.

"AHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in pain.

"Stop it!" Tyson yelled. He ran to the tree, grabbed his blade and re-launched. Dragoon directed itself to go after Voltaire but Rachel's blade blocked it.

"Just…go" she gasped. She fell to the ground and grabbed her ribs. "I don't…want…to hurt you guys." She struggled to gain control over her body again but was fighting an uphill battle. Her wounds were starting to re-open.

"I should have know better than to depend on a worthless girl" Voltaire growled. He walked beside her and kicked her in the ribs.

Rachel rolled across the snow, leaving a crimson trail beside her. She slowly pushed herself back up, with her head at his feet.

"That's right, beg like the dog you are."

"She's not a dog."

Voltaire spun around quickly to see that the Bladebreakers were standing directly behind him. He searched around and saw that Rachel's blade was laying motionless on the ground.

Kai growled at his grandfather. "Rachel's coming with us. Now. Whether you like it or not."

Tyson had already reached his sister. He was holding her in his arms as Ray pushed her hair out of the way and removed the microchip from her neck. She tensed up and put a hand on her neck to cover her new injury.

"Why do you have to be such a failure?" He questioned his grandson.

"I'm not a failure" Kai stated.

"Really now?"

"Yeah" he continued. "You can't be a failure if you've got something to prove."

"And what exactly would that be?"

Suddenly, sirens were heard from the building.

"Until we meet again."

Kai scowled at his grandfather. He walked over to his team. "How is she doing?"

"She's bleeding pretty bad right now" Kenny stated.

"It looks like she got hit by a train" Max said. "She's almost completely wrapped up in old bandages that really need to be changed. She's got bruises on her cheeks and arms. Why would they do something like this. It's horrible."

"Let's go."

"Right now?" Tyson asked, still holding his sister.

"Yes, now! We need to get back to Australia."

"I don't know if Rachel's in any condition to…" Ray began.

"Uhh…" Rachel pushed herself into a sitting position. "I'll be ok, guys. I can make it. Let's just get as far away from here as we can."

Tyson gave her an uncertain look. "If you think you'll be alright…"

Kai left the group behind him.

Tyson and Ray both helped Rachel to her feet. Tyson grabbed her arm and threw it over his own shoulder and walked with her down the street.

Max and Kenny followed behind. After a while, Kenny broke the silence. "Guys? We really should stop."

"What's wrong?" Ray asked.

Kenny pointed to the ground for Ray to see drops of blood. Ray followed the trail to see that every few steps, Rachel would have blood drop from her.

"Tyson, stop!" he almost shouted.

Tyson turned his head. "We need to hurry up so Rach can sit down. She's breathing kinda heavy."

"That's because she's bleeding to death!" Max shouted out.

Kai stopped and walked to where his team had collected.

"We don't have any bandages, though" Kenny stated, looking sadly at her.

"I'm ok, guys" she said weakly. She caught her breath again. "I'll be fine. I can make it."

"Use this" Kai said.

"But it's your scarf" Rachel replied, not taking it from his hand.

"Just use it. You won't make it to the airport if you keep being stubborn" he said, ripping his scarf in half. "Use part to wrap your ribs and the other half to wrap around your neck."

She finally took the now torn scarf pieces as Tyson walked her into an alleyway to help her.

"What was that about?" Ray asked Kai.

"There would have been no reason for us to come all the way over here just for her to kill herself on the way back" he said leaning against the building.

"That's kinda harsh, don't ya think?" Max stated.

"Whatever. She needed bandages and now she has something to wrap up her wounds."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Yes, Ray. It is" he glared.

"I can't breathe!" the boys heard Rachel scream from the alley.

They all ran down the alley to see Tyson trying to untie a knot he put in the scarf around her neck. Rachel was clawing at the piece of fabric that was apparently cutting off her oxygen supply.

Kai ran up and shoved Tyson out of the way and tore the scarf yet again. "Are you trying to kill her!" he yelled.

Rachel gasped for air and tried to slow her breathing back down.

"She told me to make it tight" he whined.

"We want to stop her bleeding not breathing" Kai shot back. He re-wrapped her wound and Rachel buttoned up her jacket carefully.

"Can we please just get out of here" she asked warily.

"Yeah. Come on. I got ya, Rach" Ray said, putting her arm around his neck as he led her out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Bladebreakers were walking down the terminal to board their flight back to Australia. The stewardess greeted each person as they got onto the plane.

"Oh my goodness! Is she alright?" she said, shocked that the girl was even standing.

"I'm fine. I just like to play chicken with moving vehicles. I thought I'd try something a little bigger this time" the girl replied sarcastically.

"Rachel! Sorry, ma'am. We're just a little worn out. We're gonna go find out seats" Ray replied to the stewardess.

She stared in disbelief at the group as they made their way to the back then returned to her duty of greeting the other passengers.

"Who am I sitting with" Rachel asked as she searched for her seat.

"Does it matter?" Ray asked in return.

"Yes it does. I don't want to hear Tyson snore."

"Maybe they have earplugs" Ray grinned at her.

She brushed off the remark and slid into her seat as Ray checked his ticket. He found his spot in the row behind her. Kai sat beside him, Max sat with Rachel, and Tyson and Kenny took the row in front of them.

Rachel leaned back in her seat as the plane began to take off.

Tyson turned around and leaned over his seat. "So, Rach…uh…I was just wondering…"

"What?" she said in an aggravated tone, not bothering to open her eyes.

"Well, I know Biovolt was trying to control you and all but…"

"What would be the point you're trying to get to?"

"Why did they give you those tattoos? I mean, did it hurt? What's the point?" he asked.

Rachel's eyes shot open. She slowly lifted her hand to touch the markings on the rim of her eye frame. Her eyes began to get glassy and she turned her attention to the floor.

"Rach?" Max asked, placing a comforting hand on her back.

"It's alright" she said. She lifted her head and let out a sigh. "Yeah… it hurt, Ty. It felt like being stung by a hundred bees over and over again."

Tyson cringed at the comment. "I can't believe Boris could do that to somebody."

'If you only knew' she thought to herself. 'Was it as painful for you as it was for me, Kai? Was it worse because he's your grandfather?' she wondered.

"And they did all of that because you have some kind of gene?" Kenny questioned.

"That and because Voltaire wants to show his power" she replied.

"Hey" Ray started. "We've all been through a lot today. Why don't we just try to get some sleep while we can?"

Max leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "We need to think about our next move, though. I mean, look at the kind of power they have in their hands now."

"Boris is bound to get all the Demolition Boys to use it against us" Kenny added.

"Of course" Tyson yelled, ruffling his own hair. "Why do all the psychos have to be out for world domination!"

"Take it easy. I'm sure Chief will be able to figure something out to give us an edge" Max replied.

Kenny groaned, looking at the footage of the fight on Dizzi. "I don't know" he said reluctantly. "I mean, that blade that Rachel was using seemed unstoppable."

"But we DID stop it" Tyson shouted.

"Yeah, but you had to re-launch and Kai managed to take her attention off the match" Kenny stated.

"Guys, keep it down" Ray said quietly. He pointed at Rachel. Her head was leaned against the window and had her eyes closed. Her breathing was even and relaxed and was obviously asleep.

"You're right! Maybe she knows how to beat them!" Tyson yelled.

"Shhh!" the group went to the blue-haired boy.

"Just let her sleep. She needs it the most out of us all" Ray said.


	16. Things Can't go Back to Normal

Hoshiko: So…you bastards have been reading. I've just been to lazy to notice that I've had hits and you all have been too lazy to leave reviews.

Tyson: Can you really blame them? Look what you're doing to your own characters.

Hoshiko: And what exactly do you mean by that?

Tyson: Seriously…I get scared just hanging around you.

Hoshiko: Then go away, you brat.

Tyson: FINE!

Hoshiko: Wait! NO! I was kidding! You have to do the disclaimer!

Tyson: NO!

Hoshiko: Fine! I own myself and Rachel, Haley owns herself and the Tri-Elements and you know who owns beyblade so…

Chapter 16

Things Can't Go Back To Normal

"We need to make a plan," Ray began.

"Rachel's in no condition to fight against the Majestics tomorrow," Max said.

"So we know who's blading already," Tyson added.

"But that doesn't change the fact that Boris has a new weapon at his disposal" Kenny stated.

"We can't jump ahead of ourselves" Kai said. "We can worry about Boris when the time comes. For now, he has no control over the gene. Let's just hope he never can."

"So where is Rachel? I mean, shouldn't we hear what she thinks about the whole situation?" Kenny asked.

"She's still resting. I think we finally got her to stop bleeding last night" Tyson stated.

"Besides" Ray began. "Like Kai said, as for the time being, there is no situation."

Mr. Dickenson walked into the room. "Hello, boys."

Kai crossed the room and sat down in the chair, knowing their sponsor was in for a long-winded speech.

"So what's up, Mr.D?" Tyson asked.

"I came to see how everything went. You all did manage to find Rachel, didn't you?" he questioned.

"Yes. We found her. She's just resting right now…uh… the whole situation just wore her out" Ray said. He didn't want the older man worrying about Rachel more than he had to.

"I'm already well aware of what all happened on your short excursion to Russia" he stated to the shock of all of the boys. "What?" he asked, gauging their reactions. "You can't honestly think I don't know everything that happens with my team, can you?"

"But how…" Tyson started.

"Now is not the time. Rachel is here now and is safe. We have a much larger problem to worry about. Biovolt has possession of Rachel's DNA and are sure to be tampering with it so they can gain control over it."

"Well there's not much we can do about it now" Kai said nonchalantly.

"Kai, you are team captain. You should really try to take an interest in what kind of power your competition has in their possession" Mr. Dickenson said in an almost annoyed tone.

"No worries, Mr. D" Tyson said, jumping in. "You've got a team of the best. There's no way that the Demolition Boys could have gotten that good even with some hyped-up blades."

"Yeah, and even Kai said that they won't be able to control the gene without Rachel, so there's nothing to worry about" Max said.

"That would be my point" the elderly sponsor stated. "I'm sure that Boris and his staff will try to get Rachel back under their control."

"That's not going to happen" Kai said, standing up, glaring at the old man.

"There's no way we can know for sure, but Boris…"

"I said it's not going to happen. Biovolt's not going to get their hands on Rachel again." With that Kai walked out of the room and slammed the door.

"I kinda have to agree with Kai" Ray said. "Now that we know that Boris and Voltaire are after Rach, all of us are going to be keeping a close eye on her."

"I'm sure you will, I just hope…"

"What's with all the racket?"

"Rach! You're out of bed!" Tyson said in amazement.

"Well, I can't exactly get much rest if ya'll are gonna be so loud, now can I?" She slowly hobbled out of her room, lightly grasping her waist.

"How are you holding up?" Max asked, worried about his friend's wounds.

"I'm alright. Still a little sore, though. But what were ya'll talking about?"

"Mr. Dickenson was just worried about what Boris might be up to" Ray said as Rachel sat down on the couch next to him.

"Yeah. He thinks that Boris still might come after you" Tyson stated.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves" Mr. Dickenson began. "You all are still in the tournament and have a match in two days."

"We thought it would be better if you sat this one out…to let yourself heal up a little" Max said cautiously.

"That would probably be for the best" She replied solemnly. "Who's supposed to fight then?"

"It's going to be Max, Ray, and Tyson" Kenny confirmed to the partial captain.

"And Kai doesn't have you guys practicing yet?" she asked.

"He just left. He's doing his 'loner' thing again" Tyson informed.

Rachel struggled to push herself up and started to head for the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" Ray questioned.

"I'm going to bring him back. I'm obviously not going to be able to be in charge of practice so he has to. I'll be back in a little bit so you guys better be ready when I get back."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am" Tyson yelled sarcastically, standing at attention with a fake salute.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'There's no way in hell I'm going to let Boris get a hold of Rachel again' Kai thought to himself as he leaned against the outside wall of the hotel. 'How could I let that bastard even get his hands on her!'

"That's a serious face. Did someone just punch you in the gut or something?"

"What are you doing out of the room?" he yelled half out of anger and half out of shock.

"My ribs are hurt not my legs" Rachel replied.

Kai started to walk away from the hotel but still said "You barely made it to the airport. You need rest. Now go back to the hotel."

"I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. Besides you have to come back with me."

Kai continued to walk, ignoring Rachel.

"Hey! Listen to me!" She yelled. She scrambled to catch up beside him. She grasped for her ribs with her bandaged hand and then grabbed his arm.

"Let go."

He said it in low menacing voice that she had only heard once before…when he was arguing with his grandfather. She quickly released his arm but shook it off as she remembered why she had left the hotel. "You have to lead the practice. I know I'm not going to fight but I won't let the rest of the team slack because I'm not at a hundred percent. So if you don't come back to the room with me, I'll have to be in charge."

Kai stopped. He closed his eyes and let his head lean forward towards the ground. He let out a slight sigh. "Fine."

"Good. I don't think I could have argued with you much more" she replied as a joke.

But Kai turned around quickly and grabbed her shoulder's roughly. "You should have just sent somebody else down. You're gonna kill yourself by being so stubborn. I'm tired of you pulling stupid stunts like your brother!"

"Kai, stop." His finger were digging into her shoulders. She closed her eyes and tried to cover up her pain.

"You're being reckless. You've been getting yourself into a lot of danger and I'm not going to put up with it!"

"Please…" she begged.

"We're not always going to be there to help you out! What are you going to do if Boris gets a hold of you again! You're already injured and walking around when you shouldn't! You won't be able to fight back in your condition!"

"Kai! Let go!" she cried out in pain.

He instantly released his grip from her and saw the blood dripping from his fingers. He stared at his hands horrified. Rachel dropped to her knees and tried to cover her newly opened wounds.

"I…I know I shouldn't be walking around" she whimpered. "But I have to be strong for the team. You think I don't know Boris and Voltaire are going to come after me again?"

"I…I'm"

"I can't just sit around, though… knowing that their gonna try and manipulate something that's a part of me."

Kai bent down to help her up and they started back into the hotel. "I'll help you rewrap those wounds" he said almost silently, not daring to make eye contact with her.

"Don't worry. I…I'll just tell the guys I moved my arms too much. It's not big deal."

They were silent they whole way back.

'How am I supposed to protect her when I'm the one hurting her? Voltaire wouldn't have even known about her if it weren't for me. I'm the reason she's getting put through all this. I should just stay away from her. If I'm not around, maybe it will keep her from getting hurt more' he thought to himself.

Xx Back In The Room xX

"I found him, guys, so you all better get your butts outside" Rachel said as she opened the door.

"How the hell are you up and walking around!" A female voice shrieked.

"Wha…" Rachel questioned as she looked into the room. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What? We can't worry about our friend when she gets kidnapped by some psychopath , taken to a completely different country, and gets the shit beat out of her? I thought we were better friends than that" Haley stated sarcastically, facing the battered girl with her hands on her hips.

"We were so worried!" Amethyst shouted, throwing herself on the brunette.

"Take it easy. I'm gonna have to change my bandages again" Rachel complained.

"I'm sorry…I was just…HEY!"

"Get off her" Kari growled at her teammate as she yanked her up. "We just came in to check on you" she said to Rachel. "Max told us what happened and we just wanted to make sure that you were going to be alright."

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the concern for me…but I'm actually more concerned about WHY MY TEAM ISN'T OUT PRACTICING WITH KAI YET! I told ya'll to be ready! So get downstairs!"

"I'm outta here" Tyson stated as he sprinted out of the room. He knew his sister wouldn't be able to do anything to him now, but she would get better eventually and she definitely knew how to get her revenge.

Ray, Max and Kenny followed him out of the room, cautious not to get too close to the angered teen.

"Make sure you train 'em hard" she said to Kai who was still standing in the doorway.

"I know how to train my team" he replied flatly, turning around and exiting.

"What's wrong with him?" Chang asked curiously. She had always thought that Kai wasn't as harsh with his co-captain, mainly because of how protective he was of her at the Caribbean Tournament, but now he was treating her the same as the rest of the boys…if not worse.

"I'm not too sure…" Rachel replied. "I think he's just pissed that he has to run practice today. It's mainly been me leading the training for a while."

"Whatever. He's not exactly the perkiest one in the bunch" Kari started. "Soooo……."

"So?…" Rachel asked back.

"Are you going to tell us what happened?"

"I thought you said you already found out from Max."

"Yeah, well…" Kari replied, waving a hand at her, "he couldn't fill in all the blanks."

"Yeah, so now it's time for your interrogation" Heather jumped in.

"Ok. Well when I got back to the hotel that night…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Welcome back beyblade junkies! We're in the semi-finals in the Sunrise Tournament to see who gets the spot to the World Championships!" Brad Best's voice rang out.

"That's right. We're having our fun today with the Majestics and the Bladebreakers while in the other stadium the Demolition Boys are fighting it out with the new competitors, the Saint Shields" AJ added.

"And you fans can expect nothing less of action packed matches that will leave you on the edge of your seats. The line-up is jam packed with excitement. We'll have Ray and Enrique going head to head in the first round, Max versus Oliver in round two, and a finale with Tyson and Robert."

"I think it's kind of funny, though," AJ began, "that the Bladebreakers won't be having their captain or co-captain fighting today."

"Well, word around the BBA is that Rachel, the Bladebreakers co-captain, got into a serious accident in her team training the other day and won't even be able to make it to today's match" Brad explained.

"We all hate to hear about that, and I'm sure I'm not the only one here that wishes her a good and fast recovery. Our thoughts are with ya…but back to the tournament!"

"What's going on here?" Enrique questioned, walking up to the dish. "Your whole team isn't even here. Where's Rachel at?"

"Why don't you worry more about me" Ray replied.

"Sorry Ray, you're just not my type, dude."

"Watch it" Ray growled.

"You can't be jealous…you're not even dating her anymore. I just think this match would be more interesting if I had her cheering me on" Enrique said with a smug grin.

"I may not be her boyfriend anymore, but she's still my friend. Besides, why would she cheer for you? We all know that _I'm _gonna win this round…"

"These boys are coming out with fire" Brad shouted.

"Come on, Ray. I thought you were supposed to show me up" Enrique mocked as his blade managed to avoid Ray's first wave of attacks.

"You just wait!" Ray shouted in defiance.

Enrique smirked and gave a small laugh. "Don't count on it. Amphilyon!"

The blonde's bit-beast rose from his blade, letting out a massive roar to announce it's entrance.

'That's right. You're playing right into my plans' Ray thought with a grin. Driger began to zig-zag across the dish, making it difficult for Enrique to follow.

"Nice try, dude, but like they say, two heads are better than one!"

Suddenly, the dragon-lizard turned into a double-headed nightmare. "Now get ready, 'cuz it's gonna turn into a rough ride!"

"Sorry," Ray replied, not even watching where the blades were. "I've seen your moves before and Driger and me aren't impressed. Let's take it to the next level!"

"What!" Enrique shouted as Ray's blade suddenly disappeared. "It couldn't have! Wait!" Enrique started to be able to catch glimpses of the opposing blade. But he just couldn't keep up. "This can't be happening!"

"Yes it can" Ray shouted. "And now it's time to end it! Driger! Tiger Claw!"

"Amphilyon! Move it!"

CRASH!

The sparks flew and everyone in the crowd was straining to see what had happened.

"No way!"

"Hold your ground Amphilyon!"

The two blades were stuck in a deadlock. The loser was going to be the first one that let their focus slip for a split second. The sparks continued to spit out in all directions. It was turning into a fiery game of tug-o-war when it finally happened…

"Ohhhh yeah! Round 1 goes to the Bladebreakers!"

"Noooo!" Enrique shouted, falling to his knees. "It was supposed to be my time to shine!"

"Hey" Ray said, sticking a hand out to help to the blonde stand back up, "you put up a good fight. I thought you had it for a second there."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" he replied, getting back on his feet. "It was a good match. But I hope you realize that we're gonna take the next two and win the finals."

"Whatever you say, dude. Just don't get too disappointed win you see me fighting in the finals," Ray taunted.

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Rachel slid silently into a seat in the back of the arena. She knew that she should be resting in her room like her the guys had asked her, but there was something that was pulling her to the stadium. She just HAD to get a look at the Demolition Boys blades. Something about it just wasn't sitting right with her.

Rachel rested her arms on the railing. She watched intently to the two competitors standing in front of the dish. The crowd was going crazy cheering for both teams. Bryan had just defeated Dunga with ease. Rachel knew that they hadn't even begun to display their power. She glared at Spencer as he smirked at Miiam.

The referee was doing his regular scheme of introducing the bladers and getting the crowd pumped. While he was going on, Boris went up to Spencer and whispered in his ear. He looked into the stands and pointed right at Rachel. She stood straight up in shock. 'What are you thinking?' she said in her mind. Boris gave her a cocky smile and returned to the rest of the Demolition Boys.

Rachel ran down the stairs and stopped herself at the lower railing. "Miriam! Wait!" she shouted.

"Rachel? Why aren't you at your teams match?" Miriam asked curiously.

"Don't worry about that now! Listen to me! You have to forfeit this round! Boris is up to something!"

Ozuma walked up to the stands. "You stay out of our matches and we'll stay out of yours. Miriam can handle herself."

"You don't understand!" she shouted menacingly. She grabbed Ozuma's collar and pulled him to her face. "Boris has something up his sleeve and I'm not sure how far he'll go."

"Why don't you two just let me start my battle without hearing ya'll complain" Miriam stated.

"Are the bladers ready?" the ref yelled into his microphone. The two players nodded their heads in agreement and aimed their launchers. "Alright! Let's get Round 2 started!3...2...1...Let It Rip!"

The two blades immediately attacked. The blades grinded against each other evenly matched. Miriam pulled her blade back and started a series of quick hits on Spencer's blade. He stood his ground, absorbing every attack as if each hit was adding to his power.

"I told you she'd be fine" Ozuma said, smiling as his teammate continued in her battle.

'What's going on? I know Spencer has more power than this. What did Boris tell him?' Rachel thought.

Miriam's blade pounded against Spencer's. The crowd was going nuts with the prospect of the Demolition Boys being put in their place.

"Miriam! Miriam! Miriam!" the crowd chanted, gaining excitement with each landed attack.

"Take him out now, Miriam," Rachel shouted at the girl. 'Something just isn't…'

At that moment, Spencer's blade began to shoot out a recognizable light.

'There's no way they could have figured it out this fast!' Rachel thought as she stared wide-eyed at what was going on in the dish.

"This…can't…be…happening!" Miriam screamed as her bit-beast was being drawn out of her blade.

"Boris! Stop it now! Rachel shouted, but it was too late.

"NOOOO!" Miriam screamed as her blade shattered into hundreds of pieces. She stared in complete shock and dropped to her knees. "It's not…fair" she sobbed, slamming her fist into the ground.

"Miriam!" her team shouted, running to her side.

Rachel still had the same shocked expression on her face and slowly backed away from the railing. She took in a few sharp breathes and ran from the stadium.

"And the winner is Spencer, although I'm not sure if the ending was necessary. This is the first official warning for the Demolition Boys. If excessive force is used again, the team will be disqualified from the tournament" the ref stated quite clearly. "The final match will start shortly but it seems that the Demolition Boys will definitely be heading for the finals."

"There won't be a next round" Ozuma stated flatly as Joseph and Dunga walked the sobbing girl out of the spotlight. "We don't blade with jerks like them."

"That's too bad," Tala mocked. "I could have used a laugh but I guess I can use my time to get in some real practice."

"And with the Saint Shields forfeiting the final round, we have our first team for the finals!"

"Let's go. We have better things to do with our time" Tala said, walking towards the entrance of the stadium, leaving his team with Boris.

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"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. I must say, I'm quite impressed that you're even able to stand after going through Boris' treatment" Tala said smugly.

Rachel just glared at the red head.

"Then again, with an attitude like that, I'm surprised he didn't kill you."

"It wasn't for a lack of trying. Just call me stubborn" she replied.

"So what do I owe for this encounter?" he questioned.

"I want answers" Rachel spat.

"You know," he said turning his back on her, "I'm not really the one you should talk to. Boris is here after all…"

Rachel grabbed his shoulder and whipped him back around to face her. "Well I'm talking to you, so you better tell me what I want to know."

"Fine, whatever" he said, trying to amuse the agitated girl. "What is it that has you so wound up?"

"Besides the fact that your coach kidnapped me and almost killed me? I know he was after some gene that I have, but why did he keep testing me? What is he up to?"

"You can't really expect me to tell you what we're planning…"

Rachel just looked at him, waiting for him to answer.

"…I can tell you one thing though. You were supposed to be a part of Biovolt. You were supposed to join us and become my partner. Together, we were going to be unbeatable…the perfect pair. We were going to be able to control any and everything with our skills and power…but like you said, you had to be stubborn."

"Are you serious!" she yelled in astonishment.

"What reason would I have for making it up?" Tala asked, sending her a sly grin.

"Well, I hope you realize that his plan is never going to work. There's no way in hell that I would be a part of Biovolt or any organization that has ideas on trying to take over."

"Come on" Tala laughed. "You had to have known that's what Boris wanted. That's all he's about. What other reason would he have for wanting any of his team members?"

Rachel shot him a disgusted look and started to walk away from the red haired teen.

"Just know the offers always open. When you feel like getting with an actual blader and team, you know where to find us."

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The group had finally returned from their match, still excited from their victory. The walked in to see Rachel asleep on the couch in the main room.

"Why wouldn't she be asleep in her bed?" Ray said, beginning to pick up the sleeping girl.

"I called her earlier to mention that I was switching your rooms" Mr. Dickenson answered, walking in behind them.

"Switching rooms?" Max asked.

"Yes. I heard about how upset Rachel and Tyson were, so I decided to just rearrange everyone" Mr. D said with a smile.

"So who's where?" Kai asked, grumpy as ever, ready to just go into his room.

"I thought it would be a nice change for Kenny and Rachel to room, then Max and Ray, and Kai with…"

"NO! Mr. D, you can't do this to me!" Tyson shouted, pulling at his hair.

"Shut up" Kai growled. "I'm not exactly thrilled either."

"Aw, man…"


	17. The Stress of Personal Burdens

Hoshiko: So I managed to bust out two chapters pretty fast. I hope to get the chapters 18 and 19 out pretty fast, but I make no promises. But you can all enjoy the duel-chapter release in the mean time. So let the story continue!

Chapter 17

The Stress of Personal Burdens

"Are you coming?" Tyson asked, knocking on the bathroom door.

"I have to change my bandages" Rachel replied. There was a moment of silence before she shouted, "Why aren't you down there yet! Get to practice before I shove your blade down your throat!"

"Eep!" Tyson screeched, jumping away from the door. 'She won't really do anything' he thought smugly, a cocky grin crossing his lips.

The bathroom door slowly opened and Rachel emerged with an icy death glare. "You're still here" she growled.

"Leaving!" Tyson shrieked, flying out of the room and down the hall,

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"You're late" Kai growled.

"Yeah" he replied, scratching his head. "I was, uh, checking on Rach?"

"That's no excuse" he yelled.

"Well, if that didn't work than how about…"

"Enough! Just practice!"

"Nice try" Ray said, laughing at his buddy, "but she already told all of us this morning she was going to be late. But you were sleeping and missed the meeting…"

"Aww, man."

"So you decided to wake up?" Max asked jokingly.

"Will you guys stop ganging up on me!" Tyson whined.

"But that takes out all the fun" a voice said from the side of the hotel.

"Who's there?" Kai growled.

The speaker emerged from his spot, filling the boys eyes with red hair.

"Tala!" they shouted.

"Don't forget about us" Bryan said, walking out with Ian and Spencer.

"What do you want" Ray spat.

"We came to finish the job that weak little girl you call a teammate couldn't finish" Tala replied smugly.

"Watch your mouth!" Tyson shot.

"You think you can take us?" Spencer questioned, towering over him.

"You all think you're so tough, but you're no match for us" he retorted, poking him in the chest harshly.

Spencer easily pushed the boy to ground and pulled out his launcher. "Ha! How can you think you have any chance of beating us when you can't even stand up to us!"

Tyson growled at the teen that was towering over him. He jumped back up as Max, Ray, Kai, and Kenny joined him.

"Your little team is so pathetic. How can you even stand to be around these rejects, Kai?" Tala asked.

"If I remember it right, these _rejects_ destroyed your team in the championships last year. So what exactly does that make your team?" he asked with a sly smirk plastered across his face.

"Right on, Kai!" Tyson shouted.

"You're gonna regret that, Hiwatari!" Tala yelled angrily. The Demolition Boys launched their blades as sparks of light shot of in the direction of the Bladebreakers.

"What the heck is that!" Max shouted.

"Oh, you don't know?" Bryan began. "Biovolt perfected the gene that weakling was carrying and implanted into our bit-beasts. You don't even stand a chance!"

"Let's go guys. It's time to show them once and for all what we're made of!" Tyson shouted to his teammates.

The Bladebreakers launched their blades and began their fight with the other boys. The Demoliton Boys were coming with fire in their eyes. They were slamming hard into the Bladebreakers and wearing them down fast.

"I don't know how much longer we're gonna be able to hold them off!" Max cried out. Tyson and Ray's blades were getting thrashed and Kai and Max were having trouble holding their own.

"We have to try! We can't let them get away with hurting Rach" Ray yelled.

Out of nowhere, Ian's blade shot off and stopped spinning.

"What's going on!" the green-haired boy asked in shock.

Slowly, a figure walked out from the hotel doors. "Nobody messes with my team" the voice stated in a low snarl.

"Rachel!" Ray yelled. "Get out of here while you can! You're in no condition…"

"You guys need all the help you can get, so just shut up and let me fight!" the feisty teen yelled back.

Tala let out a slight growl. "You're supposed to be out of commission! There's no way you could have gone through Boris' experiments and still be able to fight!"

Rachel glared at the red-head. "Well, I guess it's kind of obvious that I can. Tell Boris that if he wants to make sure I can't fight that I'm going to have to be dead the next time him or any of his little flunkies come for a visit. Now get out of here before I get serious!" Her blade returned to her hand, which was beginning to bleed through her bandages again. She was about to put her blade back in her pocket when Tala decided to redirect his Wolborg at her.

"I think I can make that arrangement a reality!" Tala shouted out in anger.

"I don't think so!" Kai yelled. Dranzer knocked Tala's blade off its course and continued to spin protectively in front of the girl.

"I tried to warn you…" Rachel locked her beyblade onto her launcher as blood dripped slowly off of it. She pulled her ripcord fiercely and Redler quickly emerged. The lion/dragon was lit up with the strongest aura any of the boys had ever seen. "Rapid Flash Strike!"

The girl's black blade quickly bounced off of Bryan, Spencer, and Tala's blades, continuing to make her rounds.

"I can't even see what she's doing!" shouted Bryan frantically.

"There's no way! Boris said that the gene is supposed to make us invincible!" cried out Spencer. The towering teen stared in shock as all of their blades kept getting slammed.

"Yeah," Rachel said, beginning to have trouble keeping her breath, "Well, I guess his idea of invincible is different from mine."

"Let's get out of here!" Tala shouted to his team. His teammates retrieved their blades quickly and ran off behind their captain. "Don't think this is the end of it!"

Redler returned to Rachel's hand as she collapsed on the ground. She looked up at the sky as the boys ran to surround her. She could barely make out their voices before things slowly turned to black.

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"WHA! Where am I!"

"Take it easy" Ray said calmly, picking up the washcloth that had fallen off of the girl's head when she shot up from the bed.

"Huh?" Rachel looked around the room realizing she was in her and Kenny's room in the hotel. "What happened?"

"We told you that you were going to hurt yourself again" Max stated, walking slowly into the bedroom. "Hey, Tyson" he shouted back into the main room, "She finally woke up."

"Hey, sis" the bluenette said quietly, barely poking his head into the room.

"Is somebody gonna tell me what happened?"

"You took on the Demolition Boys. Don't you remember? I guess not, I mean, you have been out cold for about 12 hours" the younger Granger stated.

"No, no, I remember the fight…I just don't remember anything after that" she said, holding her face in confusion.

"You released some awesome power. It must have drained all of your energy, 'cause right after, you blacked out" Tyson replied.

"It was the power of the gene" Ray interrupted. "You hand was covered in blood when we got to you…along with your blade."

"I did feel something stronger than normal kinda pulsing from Redler. It must have been the gene."

"Geez sis, everyone calls me the reckless one, but you're the one that is constantly being hurt. Why don't you take it easy for once?"

"What are you whining about? I'm fine."

"Yeah right!" He yelled. "That's why we've been dragging you back to the hotel unconscious, right?"

"Don't you yell at me! I'm your captain… and big sister, damnit!"

"That's my point! You're gonna get yourself killed. We can handle ourselves if you just let us prove it every once and a while!" he shouted.

Rachel stared in shock. Tyson never had the courage to yell at her like he was. Maybe he really was worried about her. She looked down at her bed sheets and let out a sigh. "Ok, Ty. I'll be more careful. I don't won't you to worry about me anymore, ok?"

"Good" Tyson replied, striking a triumphant pose. "Now…it's getting late and I still haven't eaten yet. Mr. D. has offered to take us out for grub, so I say we take him up on it."

"Hey, before you guys leave, where's Kai at?" she asked

"Kai?" Ray said, thinking. "Oh, he left about five minutes ago. We didn't know how long you were going to be out, so I think he went to go train some more."

"Figures" Rachel scoffed. "He didn't have much of a practice session today."

"I guess. But we're all going to go get some food. Do you want to come?" Max asked his teammate.

"You guys go ahead. I'm still feeling kinda woozy and I don't want to hear Tyson bitch anymore" Rachel told them.

"Alright" Ray said, passing her a worried glance. "Just get some rest. I'll check on you when we get back."

"Yes, mother" She replied sarcastically, throwing him a wink. "Wait, Ray. Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure. You guys go on ahead."

The boys began to exit the hotel room, each one casting their female co-captain a worried look before leaving.

"What's going on with him?"

"You know Tyson just worries about you. And with good reason. Lately, you've been a walking accident."

"No, I mean Kai. I know he's a jerk sometimes and like to do his loner thing. But I honestly think he's been trying to avoid me…"

"Do we ever know what Kai is thinking?" Ray asked, not really expecting an answer.

"But we used to get along. We would always talk about the next match and start planning out strategies, but ever since you all helped me get back from Russia, he doesn't even look at me, much less talk…It's just weird, ya know?"

Ray let out a sigh and sat down on the bed beside her. "Yeah, I guess. But if you think about it, is it really that weird?"

"What do you mean?" she said, not understanding where Ray was going with the conversation.

"It's not really for me to say, but think about it. You were kidnapped by Biovolt. Kai's grandfather is the head honcho there. Boris ran all those tests on you, tried to control you, and almost got you killed…all under his grandfather's orders."

"So what you're trying to say is that Kai thinks somehow it's his fault? But he's nothing like Voltaire. That's just stupid! How could anyone blame him?"

"I'm just saying. He hasn't talked to me either. It was like pulling teeth when we were trying to find out where you were. I doubt he would be willing to admit it to anyone but himself, but I think those are his reasons for trying to avoid everybody. We're all just trying to look out for you" he said, putting a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"And I'm sure if I confronted him about it…"

"He'd deny everything" Ray finished. "Hey, but you don't need to be worrying about him right now. You need to worry about healing up and getting yourself ready for the finals. I can see a little glint of revenge in your eye every time it's mentioned" he laughed.

"I guess you're right. After all, I would love to see Boris' face when I walk into that arena and destroy his entire team" she joked.

"Yeah, so just get some rest while we're gone. I'll bring you something back."

"Alright. Thanks Ray."

"No problem." Ray got up and headed for the door.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" he said, turning back around.

"I…I'm glad we can still talk even though we're not…"

"Me too" Ray replied softly with a slight smile on his face. The smile quickly faded thinking about what they had and walked out of the door.

Once he left Rachel snatched the blankets off of her and jumped to the table on Kenny's side of the room to grab his laptop. She plopped back down on her bed and opened it up.

"Well, I'll be a bit-beasts uncle…she lives" Dizzi stated, realizing it wasn't her owner that was fiddling around.

"Yes, alive and well. Listen, Dizz, I need your help. I've got to find out what's up with that gene that's in me. I've got to know how it works, what kind of power it has, and how to harness it."

"Asking a lot, aren't we?" the bit-beast replied.

"I have to find out. We have to face the Demolition Boys and right now we don't stand a chance in hell. There has to be some way that I can get this power into the rest of the team's blades. If that whack-job Boris can figure it out, so can we."

"That's right. I would crash my system before I let him outsmart the Bladebreakers."

"That's what I like to hear" Rachel replied, beginning to type away, looking for answers.

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The boys had finally made it back from dinner and retired to their rooms. Kenny walked in to see Rachel sitting Indian style on her bed staring intently at his laptop.

"Have you been up this entire time! The guys will kill you if they find out you haven't been resting!"

"Then stop screaming" She replied, not lifting her gaze. "Let them do what they want."

"So what, exactly, are you doing?" Kenny asked, watching Rachel typing away on his laptop.

She continued to stare at the screen. "I refuse to let this be a curse for me."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"There's got to be a way that I can get this power under control. I know we're out-matched by the Demolition Boys since Boris cracked the secret to the gene and added it to their blades."

"But you were able to beat them" Kenny stated. "Why are you so worried about it?"

Rachel sighed. She looked up from her research and said "Yeah. I beat them. But did you see how quick they took out Ray and Tyson?"

"But what do you think you're going to be able to do?" he asked.

"Well, while I was at Biovolt, Boris made me test a blade with a sample of my blood in it. It was the same when Voltaire was controlling me. And with that match earlier, I found out Redler only had more power because it was covered with blood from my hand. I'm wondering if there's some way we can integrate my DNA with all of our blades." She returned to the computer and continued her research.

"It sounds good in theory, but you're the only one that can control the pure gene. The Demolition Boys can only use a form of it because somehow they managed to break it down into its basic components" he said, scratching his head. "How is everyone else supposed to be able to work with it? There's no way we can figure out the structure they used before the finals."

"But didn't you tell me the gene was passed from my bit-beast?" she asked.

"Yes, because Redler is part dragon."

"Then Tyson should be able to handle it if we adjusted his blade, right?"

Kenny thought about this. "I guess it's possible. He has a dragon type bit-beast, too…and you both have the same DNA…it might just work!" he shouted excitedly.

"Well, that takes care of one of them, but how are the rest of the going to get it to work?"

"Let me see, Dizzi" he said.

Rachel moved the laptop where he was sitting and let him take over. She let out a slight yawn and stretched her arms over her head.

"I guess it is late" Kenny stated, looking at the clock on the nightstand. "I'll go ahead and keep looking. You need to get some rest."

"Are you sure, chief? I mean, I can stay up for at least another hour" she told him.

"No, it's alright. I can handle it. Just let me get a sample of blood so I can scan it through Dizzi. I should have some results in the morning."


	18. Secrets That Can Destroy A Team

Hoshiko: Sorry that it took so long to update again.

Kai: Like you even care.

Hoshiko: Shut up! I do care! I want people to read and like my stories. It's just I don't always have the time or I don't feel the inspiration.

Kai: Sure. Whatever.

Hoshiko: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I swear, sometimes I think that's the only kind of answer you can give.

Kai: Just do your little disclaimer and let me get out of here.

Hoshiko: Fine, ya meanie. I own Rachel, Haley owns the Tri-Elements, and Beyblade …well you know the rest.

Chapter 18

Secrets That Can Destroy a Team

There was a knock on the door early in the morning. Kenny fumbled around, grabbing for his glasses from the side table and placed them on his face. He looked to his left and noticed Rachel's bed was already made up. He got up and answered the door.

"Is Rachel in here?"

"Kai? No…I guess she got up early. Is something wrong?" Kenny asked.

"No" he replied. He walked into the room and locked the door behind him. "I don't want her to know before she has to."

"What's going on?" Kenny questioned, following Kai to the table by the sliding glass door.

"I've decided the line up" he said. He handed him a piece of paper that he had sloppily scratched names onto.

"So why is it such a big secre…You're not going to have her blade!" he shouted.

Kai jumped across the table and placed his hand over Kenny's mouth. He glared at him menacingly. "Keep it down" he growled. He removed his hand and continued. "I know she'll be pissed, but we'll be able to handle them. If she tries to battle, I know for a fact that Boris will do anything he can to get control of her again. It's for her own safety."

"Yes" Kenny agreed. " I guess you have a point. But you know she's not going to take it very well."

"She's too pre-occupied with working on everyone's blades right now. So don't tell anyone. I'll let her know when the time's right" he said standing up.

"What do I tell her if she asks about the line-up, though?"

" Just say I haven't told you anything yet. We'll get her to go off with the other teams and then I'll have a private meeting with the rest of the group." Kai walked to the door and left Kenny to his thoughts.

"This isn't going to be good."

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"So basically we need your help" Ray said facing the group.

The Majestics, White Tigers, All-Stars, and the Tri-Elements had all collected in the hotel lobby at Ray's request. They knew something had to be up if the Bladebreakers were willing to give up precious training time for the all-important finals to have a meeting with some of the teams that had already been defeated.

"Why would you need our help? I mean, we didn't make it to the finals, so how much help could we be?" Eddy questioned.

"I guess I just have to lay it out straight" Ray began.

"Boris found out I have some special DNA, beat the crap out of me to get my blood, and has tweaked it around so that it amps up the Demolition Boys blades" Rachel said, walking in front of the group.

"WHAT!" Everyone shouted at once.

"I know some of you were wondering why I wasn't at the match against the Majestics. Well, it wasn't just some training accident like people were saying."

"Wait, wait, wait" Michael said, standing up and waving his hands in front of his face in disbelief. "Are you trying to tell us that something that's inside your body can amp up a beyblade! I don't believe it."

"Now that I think about it," Emily began, pondering the thought in her head, "I got Judy to record the match between the Demolition Boys and the Saint Shields and I have never seen that much power. It was insane…even for them."

"And you're saying that Boris has complete control over this power?" Lee questioned the female blader.

"Not totally" Rachel said. "He managed to find out some formula to get the gene to its basics so Tala and them could handle the power. Supposedly I'm the only one that can control it in its pure form. But with their newly discovered strength…let's just say it's not good."

"Yeah. They came for a little visit the other day and almost took us out" Ray stated.

"So what part are we supposed to play in this" Robert asked as Tyson and Max walked up to join their two teammates.

"Your teams are the best of the best. In this room, we've got the smartest and most creative players in the sport. With this much skill and talent, we should be able to figure out how to get Tyson, Ray, Max, and Kai able to control my gene as well, even if it isn't at full power."

Mariah stood up and stared at the girl confused. "But you just said you were the only one that was supposed to be able to control it. How are we supposed to be able to figure out how to use it in two days…much less equip the blades for it?"

"Yeah" Kevin agreed. "We're not miracle workers."

"Well, you better be" Tyson shouted, "because if the Demolition Boys win…I mean…You all saw what happened at the last world championships."

"He's right. We can't let Biovolt continue to think that they can just do whatever they want" Max stated.

The bladers started talking among themselves. Sure, they all had good intentions, but how could any of them stand up to Boris and his team of scientists?

"If you guys think that it can be done" Haley said, standing in front of her team, "the Tri-Elements are willing to do whatever we can to help."

"We've got your back, Rachel" Kari said as the rest of the Tri-Elements stood up beside their captain.

"Yeah! Let's show that big jerk who's boss!" Amethyst shouted, jumping up and down.

"Hang on a minute" Oliver interrupted. "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. We don't even know anything about this gene. Even if we do manage to figure out some way to work with it, how is your team supposed to practice with it enough to get it mastered by the finals."

The group fell silent. They all turned their eyes upon the female co-captain, not wanting to miss a word of her explanation.

"To be honest, we don't know much about the gene. I didn't even know I possessed it until recently. But Kenny and I have been doing research and dug up a little bit of information. It seems that if the DNA is surrounding the bit-beast and the blader is feeling a strong emotion, the gene can take effect and add its power. I was thinking about having Kenny and Emily trying to figure out what needs to be added to the gene to dilute it enough for it to be manageable."

"Okay, okay, okay" Enrique jumped in. "I get what you're saying but doesn't that mean that they're going to have to keep getting blood from you."

Rachel lowered her gaze a little. "Yes" she responded to some gasps, "but it will be worth the sacrifice to finally but Biovolt in their place, don't you think?"

No one answered.

"Okay then, as I was saying. While Kenny and Emily are doing their part, I'm gonna need Lee, Mariah, Michael, Robert, Oliver, Haley, and Chang working with me and Ray to try and beef up the strength and defense of our blades. Everyone else, I'll be needing you guys to be putting the boys through their paces, getting us ready for the ferociousness that the Demolition Boys are gonna throw at us."

Silence seemed to consume the room.

"So are you guys with us?" Ray asked, hoping to get their attention moving in the right direction.

"Let's do it!" Mariah yelled, smiling and jumping to her feet.

"Yeah!" the others joined in.

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Xx In the Bladebreakers' Room xX

"So what's the big deal?" Tyson asked, plopping himself on the couch.

"We're having a team meeting" Kai said flatly.

"But Rachel's still downstairs working" Max stated. "Give me a sec and I'll go get her."

"Don't" Kai said, stopping the blonde in his tracks. "The meeting's about her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa" Tyson said, jumping out of his seat. "What do you mean the meeting's about her?"

"Sit down" Kai demanded, shoving the bluenette back down. "I've come up with a lineup for the finals but I haven't informed Rachel."

"Why wouldn't you talk with the co-captain about the lineup?" Ray asked.

"Because…"he sighed, "I'm not going to let her blade."

"WHAT!" the three shouted in unison.

"You can't be serious!" Tyson yelled. "She's been busting her butt!"

"Not to mention she's co-captain" Max added in, equally upset by the announcement.

"Seriously, Kai. You can't expect us to go along with this plan of yours. After all, she's the main one that deserves to blade after what they've done to her" Ray stated, trying to sway the blue-haired captain's decision.

"What they've done to her is exactly why she won't be blading." Kai replied, closing his eyes to avoid eye contact.

"Do you even hear what you're saying!" Tyson shouted, grabbing a hold of Kai's collar. "She's the one who's making sure the rest of us even stand a chance! I know my sister, she's gonna want revenge!"

"Let go of me" Kai said, slightly annoyed while pushing Tyson's hands off of him. "I know exactly what I'm saying. Trust me, I know my grandfather. He'll do anything to get what he wants. And what do you think he wants more than anything right now?"

"The possessor of the gene…"

"I'm glad someone's finally catching on" Kai said, glancing over at Ray.

The boys suddenly fell silent. The realization of all the possibilities of what could happen if Rachel got taken back was becoming apparent to all of them.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Tyson asked almost inaudibly.

"I need to make sure that we all agree on this," Kai said, at long last gaining control back over the meeting. "We'll be political about it and take a vote. Everyone for making Rachel stay at the hotel and us fighting to keep her out of Biovolt's grasp, raise your hands now."

Max raised his hand along with Kai. Ray slowly raised his hand also, turning his gaze to the floor.

Tyson stared in disbelief at his teammates. "Are you guys serious?"

"If it protects Rach…." Ray began, slowly raising his head to look him in the eyes, "If it protects Rachel we don't have much of a choice if we're really her friends."

"I don't believe this."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well that should just about do it" Kenny sighed, handing the blade over to Max. "All of the blades have been equipped with the manipulated version of Rachel's gene." With that, the small boy collapsed onto the floor, worn out from all of his work.

"Great going, Chief. I really appreciate how much work you've put into it" Rachel said, gladly giving the boy his much deserved break. "Now, it's time to get down to business. We've got one day to be able to control these things. There's no time for kidding around. If you're not ready to work, tell me now so I know not to put you on the lineup."

Ray, Max, and Tyson just stared at her with determined looks on their faces.

"I'm ready for anything. I don't want to just sit around wondering if I'm strong enough to take on the Demolition Boys" Tyson stated, walking up to his sister with purpose in his eyes.

"Glad to hear, lil' bro" she replied, giving him a smile. She slowly placed Dragoon into his hand. "How about you two?" she asked.

"You know I'm behind you" Max stated, moving to get his newly transformed blade.

"Ray?"

He couldn't look her in the eye. The meeting kept replaying in his head. Yeah, it was better for Rachel to not even go to the arena tomorrow, but she had never trained so hard in her life. She had so much determination and purpose. She was the only one out of the whole team that had a real reason to want revenge. But she had no idea…no idea that all of her hard work was only going to benefit Tyson, Max, Kai, and himself. He continued to look at the ground and met Rachel.

"I'm ready" He barely whispered.

Rachel looked at the Chinese teen. She lowered her head to meet his gaze. "If you don't feel up to it" she whispered to him, "I won't hold anything against you. Believe me. I will never think anything different of you if you don't want to fight."

"I'll fight" he replied. "Don't worry about me."

"Ok" she replied cooly, placing Driger in his hands and then covering it with her own. "I knew you'd fight. You're always willing to fight for me."

Ray lifted his head and looked at her. "Yeah…always."

"Alright then." She backed up and looked at the crowd in front of her. "Hope you guys are ready to see what all your hard work has done for us!" And with that, Ray, Max, Tyson, and Rachel all aimed their launchers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kai!" Ray shouted down the hallway of the hotel.

Kai turned around and noticed the Chinese teen. "What do you want?" he grumbled.

"I need to talk to you…in private. The others have already left for dinner."

Kai eye-balled him before letting out a sigh. "Fine. Make it quick."

Both of the boys walked back into the gathering room as Ray took a seat on a couch.

"I want to know what's really going on."

"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, getting agitated.

"Don't play dumb with me. You think avoiding Rachel is going to change anything? That pushing yourself away from everybody and trying to act like you're a loner again is really the way you want things to be?'

"I don't know what you're talking about" he said, walking towards the door.

"Really? I think you know exactly what I'm talking about" Ray said, putting his hand on the door so Kai couldn't get out. "You still have feelings for her, you're just scared of that."

"Shut your mouth, Kon" he growled.

"You know what? No. I don't think I will this time. I don't know if you realize it, but both of you are miserable. I'm sure none of the others see anything different with you, but with Rachel… you can't tell me that she's been acting like her normal self" Ray stated.

"She's just concentrating on the tournament" Kai replied.

"Then why won't you let her fight tomorrow? You know she's one of the strongest. And why did you take a vote behind her back? And why are you waiting 'till the last minute to tell her?"

Kai closed his eyes and let out a low growl. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything to me. I just think you need to admit it to yourself. And that you should let Rachel in on it."

"I can't" Kai said quietly. "It's my fault all this happened."

"What do you mean?" Ray asked angrily. "What did you do?"

"Voltaire's my grandfather. If I would have just kept to myself like I had been, he never would have thought to look for that stupid gene in her. I knew what he was looking for and I knew that she was the one that possessed it. I was stupid for not letting her know that they'd be coming after her. And I let them get to her. How am I supposed to think I can do anything for her if I can't even protect her from my grandfather? It'd be better for both of us if we just let any feelings we might have had for each other just die out."

"That's kind of selfish, don't you think" Ray asked.

"Whatever. It's for the best."

"You may think that now, but I think you should at least let Rachel know your reasoning for not letting her fight. She deserves it after everything she's been through."

Kai opened the door to the hallway. "If that will get you off my back, I'll give her an explanation. But I'm cutting off any ties after that. I won't let those bastards get any kind of cheap thrill torturing me by torturing her." Kai slammed the door shut behind him.

Ray looked at the door solemnly. "You think you can just get rid of everything you feel for her by slamming a door?" He let out a laugh. 'You really have no idea what you're feeling, do you?'


End file.
